Reverse Mirror (yet again we meet)
by Giou Yomi
Summary: A Goddess who lost everything, that's how it should've been. But the Future is not stable, and what will happen if a decision changes it all? What if the Child of Prophecy destroyed the Prophecy itself and braided the strings of Fate with her own hands? What if the Goddess of Life and Death was once called Naruto? Time travel fic, chapter 1-10 under rewrite
1. Chapter 1, The end?

**Chapter 1: The end?**

**Warning: This contains MinaNaru! And this is an action story, so do not expect any fluffy moments, though there will be a few. Just that there WILL be a few emotional roller-coasters, a lot of flashbacks, and maybe some yaoi as side pairings. If there is mistakes then I will be happy if you point it out because English is my fourth language. I speak Mandarin, Shanghainese, French, English, and currently learning Latin.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Kishimoto-sensei in any way and form, and I do not own the few Latin quotes that will pop out here and there. I however own the plot and the Ocs, as well as the description of some places and the characterization of some less-known characters in the original anime/manga.**

**Ok, this A/N is really getting too long...**

**This is my second story , so... here you go! Just so you know, I DON'T own naruto, my name isn't Masashi Kishimoto!**

**UPDATED 2015-09-23**

**The update for the second chapter should be up soon, I`m sorry that there will be differences between this chapter and the next for a few weeks.**

* * *

The smoke, rising steadily from the ashen ground, filled the air with a putrid scent of decaying, dead bodies. There just wasn't time for burial anymore. It was war, loss and blood and hope for another morning that wouldn't come, hope that was losing against despair and the slowing pump of adrenaline. The sky was a midnight blue, covered by thick clouds, grey and dark but never raining as if the sky refused to wash away the blood, dripping with sins and broken promises.

He was tired. His seemingly bottomless resources of chakra were empty, but it didn't matter anymore, not after the death and the blood, not after _her_. All that mattered was him and the will to _kill,_ the revenge that was there but almost unreachable. At first, the rising of the sun kept him aware of the changes of time, but eventually, that too, became meaningless as the world and the sounds around him began to slowly merge together. He simply do not have any time to care about those insignificant things anymore. All that mattered was the auras of his friends behind and around him and the man standing in front of them, menacing, smug and utterly terrifying in a twisted sort of way. Uchiha Madara had gone mad in his quest for peace and power, and at the end he was proud of the suffering he first longed to erradicate.

Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto wasn't going to let that go on any longer.

Suddenly the sound of thousands of birds chirping made its way to Naruto's ears, loud in the almost empty battlefield covered in corpses. No matter how he covered them, the clatter of battle still resonated in his head, filling his thoughts with the cries of people dying, all dead but still _alive _in his mind. He painfully raised a fist to the sky, and looked up to those grey, shadowless rain clouds. Just as he felt another chakra signature fade away behind him, a single drop of water hit his face, sliding down his scarred chin as a tear would, leaving a clear trail on his bloodied features. Anguish took over as another comrades fell, this time beside him. It was the last of the Suna troupes.

Suna had fallen.

This one also won't live to see the daylight resurface from Madara's jutsu...

He knew, he knew that grief mixed with pain was slowly tearing his mind and soul apart as he felt every of his men's spirit struggle under Madara's dark chakra. He knew that there was not a single chance they could win. Not a chance against that man... why do they still fight? Why do they have to die like this? Why...

"Naruto!"

The cry, this time so close to him, uncharacteristically desperate but all too familiar, woke him like a bolt of lightning. Sasuke... smiling reassuringly to him, Naruto decided to stop pondering on now useless questions and make himself useful. Locking eyes with his long time friend and brother, the blond cracked a wide grin and shouted at the sky and beyond.

''GATHER YOUR FORCES FOR A LAST ATTACK, AND PUT EVERYTHING YOU HAVE IN THIS BLOW!"

His call was answered with many tired grunts from his decimated troupes, but still less than he expected. Madara's insane laugh resonated behind, telling him that it was all futile, that there was no hope. Had that many fallen?

The world was really crumbling around him...

Naruto shook his head. It wasn't the moment to be desperate. Nodding in a silent agreement to his dark haired subordinate's unspoken plan, Naruto took his hand within his own larger one and squeezed gently. Who knows, maybe this will be the last time they'll be allowed to do such an intimate thing. With their remaining stamina, all the anger and the rage rolled into one, they made their way around Madara, way too slowly in Naruto's mind as the madman's darkened eyes followed their movements easily. The Uchiha look at them with an annoyed look as if they were no more than flies to his mighty existence, arrogant to his imminent victory.

''Sasuke...'' Naruto's voice was barely above a whisper, but Sasuke move according to the silently understood order. His burning red eyes met his leader's steel blue ones once more, and they ran forward.

"Ready?"

''More than that, Naruto-sama..."

"Very well." He let relief slip through his words. That's right... He still had Sasuke. Even if the world died away, even if the Heavens cried tears of blood, even if he himself drowned it the bloodied soil along with _her_... Sasuke will be there. Always.

''Haaaaa...'' Naruto exhaled, preparing himself for what will be his last attack, one of the most powerful jutsu he had barely a year ago but now nothing to what he could do days before. Withdrawing more chakra than he could feel, he rushed forward with his palm extended toward his best friend, forming another Rasengan. Naruto felt his consciousness waver; it won't be long before his body failed him, the adrenaline having nothing but cold, empty rage to run on, and even that was running out as the grief stubbornly held back by sheer will began to chip away at his mind. Black spots began to dance before his eyes as he forced out another wave of chakra, his control slipping for all but a second before tightening to mold it into something more, edgy, dangerous, and all too familiar to this torn battlefield as it rolled in a whirlwind of sharp blades.

Just a little more...

And he released his hold on the chakra. It spun wild, uncontrolled and free, and Sasuke accepted it, struggling to merge the Rasenshuriken with the blessed black fires of Amaterasu and threw it, leaving them completely exhausted and void of chakra. They should be dead: but they were standing, too stubborn to let go yet desperate to rest. They knew however that the black shield of the man will protect him, and he will probably come out without a scratch.

_'So all this is still for naught...'_

Everything. Everything they all had to go through, all of their suffering and loss untill now is to be forgotten and never remembered. If only he was stronger. If only he could have done more than this... what kind of leader is he, sending all of his men to a cruel and meaningless death?

But then, a surprised cry of agony pierced the air and made him jerk back to reality.

Somehow, their desperate attempt managed to land on the enemy and wound him, and maybe it was that arrogance that failed him, destroyed Madara, and made him commit that single mistake. Too exhausted to even think, Naruto let his body on auto-pilot and pushed forward, forming another familiar swirling ball of blue chakra in his right hand, pulling it right out of his soul, and he felt more than heard Kurama, the voice that had gone silent long ago now all but whispering, encouraging, urging him to go on.

It went through Madara's chest with a sickening splash, and Naruto watch with unspoken glee as Madara's eyes widened. But he knew it wouldn't kill him. It wasn't enough, not even nearly enough. The gaping hole in his chest - deep, that pierced through his body like Obito had been before he died too - was already closing, and Naruto saw the black chakra forming a protective barrier around the area. He desperately needed something else, something equally powerful. But everyone was lying on the ground, either dead or dying, and he can barely keep standing; even breathing was becoming more and more painful, almost unbearably so.

There just wasn't hope anymore.

He let gravity take control of his body as he fell to the ground, limp, almost abandoned. He was done fore, he can't do it anymore. Naruto hated to abandon, but what good would it do? It wasn't as if there even would be anyone left, even if they won. It would be empty. Now that victory was only in name and losing wasn't a far away concept anymore...

He just wanted to sleep -

Just in time to see a hand covered by electricity go through the enemy's head, burning it to ashes. Madara's blood splashed on his face, covering him in the dark crimson liquid, still warm against his cooling skin. Madara still stood, proud in his lifeless form, but then, tilted, almost unnoticed, unbelievably, then landed harshly on the spiked, dry earth. And was impaled with a sickening splash of blood.

And then there was another sound, tired and too loud, that of a body crashing down to earth just beside him.

"Sasuke...how?"

The raven turned his head toward him, a crooked smirk on his bloodied face. "What? As far as I'm concerned, you're not the only one known for pulling last-minute stuff out of your behind."

Naruto chuckled. For Sasuke to use the undignified word 'Stuff', he must really be... Happy...

"Haha... it ended. Right, teme?'' A rictus found its way to Naruto's lips, soon disappearing as Naruto coughed up blood. A cracked rib had pierced his right lung when he had impacted a rock wall, Marada having thrown him a few hours - or was it days? - ago.

"Hn."

"Back to monosyllabic sentence, are we? You never change..." Naruto glanced at him and looked at his cold, black eyes, the red stars he had grown used to permanently fading as Sasuke's eyes closed, blood slowly dripping down his chin.

"Hn."

The blond smiled sadly at him. ''How regretful... we will never get the chance to see this world prosper... Sasuke, let's meet again, ne?''

There was a long silence, and the answer was a whisper almost lost to the wind.

"Yeah, dobe..."

At those words, Naruto closed his eyes and simply relaxed. Surprisingly, the thought of dying was not nearly as frightening as what he had thought before. No sudden flash of memories, no Shinigami waiting for you to die to eat your soul, no regrets. What regret can you have wheneveryone you knew was dead? There was only a strange calmness. The wounds that had once pulled tears to his eyes, drawn on his scarred body, were now a dull pain, like a slight pull on the edges on his mind, insignificant but achingly there. The Uzumaki looked at the sky, and he wondered, with the curiosity of a child, if he would go up there or straight down to Hell. Probably the latter.

He only turned to glance at Sasuke, immobile and silent, almost beautiful in that twisted, cold kind of way only Sakura had truly learned to appreciate. But then she was gone too, exhausted as she struggled to save lives and too occupied to think of love. When Sasuke's chakra faded, because chakra simply does not die as it's only sucked back by nature, Naruto closed his eyes and felt his natural energy returning to the Earth like falling leaves. He laid there, contemplating as Sasuke's soul turned out to be a bird, its white and black wings spread toward the moonless night sky like those of an angel.

He wondered if his would look the same, and chuckled painfully at the mental image of a blond bird chasing angrily after a white and black bird in the forest surrounding the once great Konoha. The chuckle soon turned into a full out laughter, cruel and lonely, empty like the voice of a man who had too much to tell yet too old to be able to even whisper, with no one to witness. Naruto didn't care if his body protested at the sudden motion anymore. And just as suddenly as it started, it died down, the sound carried away by the wind to a desolate land, perhaps somewhere, where the war had not touched and destroyed.

"See you, teme..."

A few silent minutes after, the Rokudaime Hokage and last living shinobi in this world, followed his best friend in death with a peaceful smile. His blond hair, dirtied and caked with mud and blood, looked brown and ugly, but the shine hadn't disappeared. His face was calm and not longer collected, deep lines speaking of stress and grief carved into his features fading as his muscles relaxed.

Right then, Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto no longer was human, and the blessed light of Tsukuyomi shone upon him.

Who knew that this will only be the beginning of the story of the most powerful human ever, one that ended a war of centuries old grudges by himself, paying a price that had saved the world but destroyed his most precious thing?

But the future is never certain, as it is created, shaped and destroyed by our choices...

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**Next chapter: New chance and a Goddess**


	2. Chapter 2, A new chance and a goddess

**Chapter 2: A new chance and a Goddess**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Kishimoto-sensei in any way and form, and I do not own the few Latin quotes that will pop out here and there. I however own the plot and the Ocs, as well as the description of some places and the characterization of some less-known characters in the original anime/manga.**

**Updated: October 31 :) Happy Halloween~**

**I'm sorry if the story doesn't follow the same style in the next few chapters, I'll try to edit them as soon as possible :)**

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Fate is something set in stone, born with one's soul and changing, twisting until it can flow between all the cracks and crevices of one's existence. It remains unchanged like a fleeting word, unseen and unheard yet existing. It is like the red strings dangling from a puppeteer's nimble fingers, pulling at some places and crisscrossing at others, unpredictable yet awfully consistent. Fate is always set in stone for the living and the dead, unless the puppeteer's cruel fingers allow otherwise.

_At first there was the One._

No color, no smell, no sensations.

_It was the original, it was all and none. It was the world._

It was a cluster of white, red, blue, black and everything else, but it was none, blank because there was all.

_Then the world split, into twins, then into three, and so all that was left of the One was..._

A white world.

But then, in one instant, in this world with no beginning and no end, a small sparkle arrived. It was small and insignificant in the endless horizon, but it was there and what was blank and empty suddenly wasn't anymore.

_And so the world exists._

_XxXxXxXxX_

An insignificant flutter.

A twitch, the flicker of light over closed eyelids, and they blinked open.

Endless and hazy sea blue orbs stared at the One. And it stared back, blank, silent, observing.

Suddenly half of the One became sea blue, deep and mesmerizing, and so a sky exists.

_The One laughed, rejoiced in silence, for It did not have Sound. But it had Joy and Surprise, collected from the existence, and so the One was happy. Finally it wasn't blank, finally it existed._

The existence blinked, slow and sluggish, as if it was in a deep sleep.

_The One moved. The world moved. A slow step, an uncontrolled and hesitant rumble._

The existence heard. It heard a rumble, slow and lazy, a bit clumsy.

Then it felt. It was comfortably warm, almost luring it back to sleep.

It smelled, and it smelled of something new to his senses but older than time, pure yet tainted, something that smelled like water and air and burning flowers.

And it saw.

_Chakra._

Pure, unfiltered raw chakra, seeping from everything, the air, the sky, _himself_. Swirling, bunching up as a light satin cloth would, flowing yet solid, in, out, in, out.

_Everywhere._

And the existence was.

_It remembered._

* * *

It was pleasantly warm.

Naruto thought as he curled into himself slowly, unaware and relaxed.

It was different. From... he frowned. That _something, _that was pushing at the back of his mind. He didn't want to think of it. Even though he didn't know what it was, it definitely was something he'd rather not think about. It was cold, dark... he felt good right now. If only he could always be like this...

But it was wrong.

He knew.

He knew that a second ago he was...

He was _somewhere_, that wasn't _supposed_ to be warm.

_The cold seeping through his tattered clothes, numb fingers reaching out, cold blood running through his body, colder and colder... until even the dull ache of the wounds was gone, and the heat of the sun just out of reach. The empty and mad laughter that wrenched his heart, echoing, far, far away in the barren lands... until he realized - _

Naruto jolted and sat up.

And blinked.

_'Where the hell-?'_

He was moving.

_Alive._

_'What is going on?'_

The war. Madara. Naruto's eyes widened as he looked around frantically, only for his vision to blur, leaving nothing but dancing white and black dots before his eyes.

_'Gh-! Ouch, headache.'_

He crouched, gripping his hair, his almost claw-like nails digging into his scalp as he blinked furiously for a few seconds. Madara. Sasuke.

Madara was dead.

He almost felt like cheering, but then found he couldn't move as the next sets of memories crashed down harshly, blurry images appearing in his head. People, moving, fighting, crying out as they were savagely impaled... He remembered, suddenly, and he almost didn't want to. Endless bloodied lists, names, causalities written in black ink and smeared on the torn papers... going on and on and on like a tape, and came last the feeling...

And then he couldn't stop his legs from giving out, couldn't stop from bending in two because the weight was too much to bear. The cries of anguish, despair, anger and the mourning, every second, every hour that reeked of death came back.

It was unbearable, it was...

_A sea of black, soulless flames, twisting and raging as it came toward them, the cries of 'Look out!', before it disappeared. Only to reappear within enemy ranks, ravaging their troops as sighs of relief ran through the allied shinobi. Only a select few saw a silver-haired man collapse, worn out, a wry smile behind his mask as blood dripped down his chin._

_'Kakashi-sensei!'_

Grief.

_A bloodied scroll in his hand, he looked down, the smile of the man burning into his mind as he contemplated the picture one last time. Next time there will only be a name left on a stone that will one day fade into nothingness._

_Iruka-sensei..._

Anger.

_A flash of deep lavender, silky yet dirtied and sticky with dried blood, before a burst of color and a silent scream-_

_'Hinata!'_

Sorrow.

And it was much more.

_"It is time." _It was the soft murmur of a woman, burning words of petals and red ink on blank canvas, that awakened something from its slumber deep within him.

_Time_, it echoes, calling from the deep of his heart, twisting and growing to fill in a blank space that he had never considered. _Time,_ and his mind jumps, rejoices at the sound.

"It is time," he repeats into the crook of his arms.

_And what was set in stone began to flow again._

* * *

_"You seem to be in a great amount of pain, young one."_

Naruto startled, broken out of his trance. The melodious voice was calm - calmer than anything he'd heard before - and Naruto knew that voice. He hadn't heard it, never even felt it, but he knew, somewhere deep, that it was close - very close to what he was, closer to his essence than anything could be - and it was home.

It was thin silk wrapped around soft alabaster skin, an exquisite and translucent fabric over a hint of red and yellow blooms. It coaxed him with a silent order, unspoken with a hardened edge hidden behind a veil of curious blank dignity.

He nodded, and that was all the answer he gave away.

A feathery touch, barely there, fluttered across his back to his shoulder. It disappeared for a moment before coming back, this time tracing the contour of his jaw to under his chin, impossibly soft skin pressing down lightly. It was hardly anything, but he leaned forward anyway, following that finger and shivering as it left his skin - refusing to think of that one person who used to do the same under blinking stars, pushing away the flowery scent that used to explode into soft specks of lavender behind his eyelids - and tilted his head, slowly, letting something other than need and hate guide his movements.

_"Ah... you have a weary soul for one so young, dear one."_

Naruto smiled, a small, noticeable bitterness that tasted of sweet tears never shed.

"A soul? Oh, I had let it go already... I had let it go at last when all but that alone was lost, isn't it enough? There isn't anything to give anymore."

He was met with silence, but the finger lingered on his face, lazily tracing his whiskers as the silky material of a white embroidered sleeve brushed his cheek.

_"This sadness grows roots deep in your heart, and for that I am saddened. Fate has toyed with you many times, child. But I wonder..." _she began, stroking calmly under his eyes as if brushing away tears, _"Why is it your fragmented mind stays so strong?"_

There was something in that voice, in that tone, that made Naruto swallow and pry open his eyes. He was met with bright light, blinding him for a moment, his dilated, darkened stormy blue pupils reflecting the bright shine of the Sun. There was a chuckle from within the light - deeper, almost as if resonating like a growl - but it remained soft, and strangely Naruto picked up the scent of fireflies and warm fur. Another small laughter, this time lighter, almost flying, and his eyes caught a shape he hadn't noticed before, dark against the white powder-like ground.

_"I thought you might appreciate the surprise."_

A tantalizing smirk, and his eyes barely caught the movement of thin, pale lips before his entire body froze.

"Dobe."

There was a sharp cry, distant in his ears as his body leaped into motion faster than he could think, and his arms sneaked around a narrow waist as he nuzzled the other's neck.

"Sasuke," Naruto breathed, golden sun draped over dark midnight, and strong arms rose beneath him to circle his shoulders.

He almost missed the shy murmur, but his sharp eyes caught it, and his heart reveled in those words.

"It's fine."

And he let it go, already missing the feel of soft scarred skin under his calloused fingers, the rich taste of tangy blood on his tongue as his fangs bit into a pale shoulder.

The man under him grunted, heavy and annoyed with the undertone of amusement, yet his arms tensed in that familiar way, pulling Naruto closer still.

"Don't mark me by accident, dobe." Never missing a beat as he threw that snide remark, and Naruto had to hide his smile as he bit down harder, earning a gasp from Sasuke.

"Damnit, dobe, I'm not lunch." At that Naruto had to yield, releasing his hold and muffling his chuckle into his friend's clothing.

"Sorry, just... I just had to make sure." The 'alive' was left unspoken but Sasuke understood anyway, understood that Naruto was wild and perhaps will always be more of a beast than a human; he understood since the day he had stepped into a messy and beaten apartment and golden eyes with flecks of crimson peered at him, nine tails tipped with white draped over orange tangled bed sheets. Sasuke could have ran away, could have left and never come back the moment white sharp canines sank into his flesh, pears of blood dripping as his nerves sent jolts of pain up his neck, but he didn't pull away, never did because Naruto hadn't.

Since then it was a thing between them. Others never understood, shied away from the sight, but it never bothered them anyway. Sasuke probably didn't understand fully Naruto's urges either, yet at the same time felt it, the electricity between the gasps and the blood, the relief that seeped through the numbing pain. And a little bit, just a little bit, even if Naruto would hit him on the head and call him stupid, Sasuke wanted to repay him.

So he didn't mind.

He pushed Naruto off him and the blonde rolled away with a chuckle, and Sasuke yanked on his jacket, covering his wound that was beginning to slightly swell. He huffed in annoyance as Naruto sat up and knelt in front of him, watching him with a frown.

"Let me take care of that."

"Tch, it's not the worse I've had - you haven't even bitten through."

Naruto winced at the memory but reached forward and grabbed a surprisingly thin wrist, prying it away as his other hand pulled the jacket down over the wounded shoulder. He leaned forward, a bit mesmerized by the sight of streaks of scarlet over white skin, but quickly shook his head and began licking at the wound. Sasuke almost hissed, but Naruto ignored him and continued tending to the small puncture wounds, his hands gripping Sasuke's arms tightly as the raven struggled in his grasp. He only let go when soft pink skin stretched over newly closed wounds and the blood was cleaned away, and Sasuke slapped his hands away with a growl, pulling up his jacket again.

"That was unnecessary, you idiot."

"Bastard."

And Sasuke had to turn away to hide a smile at the familiarity of it all.

_"Sorry to interrupt, but I fear there is more important matters at hand."_

Naruto turned his head calmly at the source of the voice he hadn't seen yet, sensing Sasuke tense beside him. He laid a hand on the other's knee to convey his trust in the approaching figure, and the raven relaxed, slightly confused and wary of the arrival.

Glistening amber orbs focused on them as light danced around them, almost playfully, pristine white fur shining with stripes of red tracing the taut muscles as the gigantic beast moved. Orange and blue flames flickered around, ethereal in their appearance and scorching hot, creating shimmering embers as they burned and heated the air. It was almost suffocating, yet Sasuke couldn't find the will to move away from the silky white heat, the scent of wild red, yellow blooms and warm fur oddly comforting and familiar to his senses.

He tells himself it's because of the crinkling of lightning around his arm while the Chidori crackles, because of the hellish flames of Amaterasu as it burns away at the battlefield, but he couldn't and wouldn't believe it, not while his heart speeds up in a feeling he hadn't known after Itachi, after Naruto, and perhaps after Sakura.

The sudden shift of his companion startles him and Sasuke jumps a little. He watches as Naruto stood, his head barely reaching the beast's shoulders yet never looking any smaller, and stops, because it wasn't, couldn't -

Because Naruto mutters, and the sound is amplified, echoing in the barren landscape, impossibly true, _"Amaterasu."_

The divine beast chuckles, light as a feather even as it creates a deep rumble in its chest, and sits down, lowering its head so it can look at Naruto's cobalt eyes.

_"I didn't expect you to remember, young one. No... You are indeed young, but your soul is old, old and wise enough to recall its creator, and, by extension, me."_

The voice was of thin silk draped over hard burning metal, an exquisite and translucent fabric over the burns and scorches of ethereal fires.

Sasuke's eyes widened as Naruto smiled, not one of those exuberant smiles that reaches his ears and closes his eyes but one of those that are rarely seen, small and genuine, laced with mischief and soft fondness. Sasuke had seen that smile only, only when Hinata was still alive, on that secret star filled night, under the moon shining a pale violet where he promised them to be the keeper of their eternal vows.

"I don't think I can ever forget a being quite as particular, Amaterasu, or shall I say Raise?"

_"Raise is quite fine, chosen one."_

"You spoke of important matters, I believe?"

_"Indeed I have. But it's more of an offer than a discussion, I am afraid."_

Naruto raised an eyebrow at this. "An offer? What deal do you have to propose, Rising sun?"

The beast stood, shifting, and began circling around Naruto and Sasuke, awe-struck and still sitting.

_"It was Mother's decision. There is actually not much of a choice to make - you accept and the process will be comparatively less brutal, but refusing will not change much."_

Sasuke contemplated these words carefully, but seeing no response from Naruto, asked, "And what is this 'deal', exactly?"

Amaterasu grinned, a row of sharp fangs showing as she answered of her melodious voice.

_"I will send both of you back."_

She chuckled, her tongue darting out to wet her muzzle, and Sasuke almost shuddered. He had a bad feeling about this.

_"Go to sleep and awake in a new world, chosen ones."_

_"It's time."_

The world suddenly was engulfed by white - and all faded into black.

_And what was set in stone, flowing and twisting, gave a mighty pull - and all was reset._

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**Another chapter! Next chapter, team hummingbird! Please Review! *bow***


	3. Chapter 3, Anbu team Hummingbird

**Chapter 3: Team Hummingbird**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Kishimoto-sensei in any way and form, and I do not own the few Latin quotes that will pop out here and there. I however own the plot and the Ocs, as well as the description of some places and the characterization of some less-known characters in the original anime/manga.**

**Updated: December 25 :) Merry Christmas! I haven't looked at the time and it's already been four months... :'( Sorry! I'll start working on the newest chapter right now. I'm a bit late...**

**I'm sorry if the story doesn't follow the same style in the next few chapters, I'll try to edit them as soon as possible :)**

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-Hokage tower-

Birds of all kinds chirped as the sun shined in midday, hot and seemingly carried in the sky by the fluffy cloud and warm summer wind. Perched on various trees and cables outside the tall, newly painted tower were shinobis of all ranks, mostly fresh Genin teams with their Jonin instructors using the occasion to teach them tree walking - or in this case, wall climbing. A few Chuunins and Jonins strayed from their paths just to observe the grumbling as the Genins struggled to stick to the tall walls, holding buckets in one hand and clumsily bending to apply fresh paint over the dry and peeling off-red of the tower. Some would stumble and fall, spraying paint all over themselves and the occasional unlucky teammates. Strings of curses would then follow, raising small, amused chuckles from the onlookers.

All in all, in was a peaceful and normal day for Konoha.

Numerous floors above, in an office smelling of expensive tobacco and drying leaves, Hiruzen sighed. He ran his hand through his brown hair lined with grey streaks, trembling slightly under the stress of it all as he dug into the endless piles of papers stacked on and around his desk. He narrowly missed knocking over his ink bottle, imported from Iwa years ago, and he considered going through with the movement just to escape this hell before resigning himself to his fate. His cruel assistant will just find him more ink, probably of lesser quality. And he liked this bottle. After all, his precious son bought it for him.

Never had mission reports filled in this quickly and swiftly before, but again he wasn't the only one who wanted to be done with it. Beneath all the layers of joy and hope was tension that continued to raise; nowadays, shinobis of various ranks were paranoid on a good day and downright murderous on a bad one. Already rumors were spreading around the country, lingering behind closed doors and venturing out in the open under the cover of the night. People were frightened.

A war.

Another war, perhaps on the scale of the previous Shinobi Wars, and it looked unstoppable. As much as Hiruzen wished to deny it all saw it coming, shinobis and civilians alike. Truthfully, Iwa never really forgave Konoha after the last war and their temporary peace alliance was about to run out of time. With their ever growing population, the Tsuchikage will no doubt begin coveting nearby lands, the majority of which was allied to Konoha. Kumo's new Raikage was young and power-hungry, and it was no secret that he hadn't allowed his Genins to participate in any of the lasts Chuunin exams. Instead he had been promoting them himself; it was also said that he encouraged marriage and births strongly for anyone Chuunin and below. Suna, weakened as they were after their Sandaime Kazekage's disappearance, started raising an army as well.

The threat of war was looming and Hiruzen's hands were tied.

Hiruzen sighed again. He wondered if he should sneak out to take a break, but again that would totally freak out his overly tense ANBU guards. Maybe it would teach them to relax a bit?

Suddenly the ANBU stationed in the left corner shifted, almost apprehensive to the movement as he passed through a silent message to his teammates, but Hiruzen already recognized the chakra signatures coming his way. There was an eruption of wind and leaves, lifting a small amount of golden-brown dust from the carpets, and four masked people appeared in the center of the room, stances rigid with practiced ease.

''ANBU squad Hummingbird, reporting. The mission has been successful with minor casualties; the target had been recovered and all opposition was removed,'' stated the one in the center as he calmly stepped forward, voice strong yet laced with submission.

''Good. I expect a full written report before tomorrow. Dismissed,'' the Sandaime ordered, and three of the four masked figures silently left the room in small tornadoes of wind at the clear dismissal, almost sending one of the tallest piles of papers scattering to the floor. Only remained the captain of the team, Kiba, and he slowly but steadily approached the wooden desk behind which was seated his lord.

The Hokage looked up in time to see a gloved hand take his red and white hat from his head and Hiruzen scowled at the impolite gesture. He could almost sense the arrogant smirk behind that mask.

''Kiba...'' Said man just pushed away carelessly a stack of papers and sat himself down on the desk, almost playfully like an old friend.

"Hokage-sama, with all due respect," he began, voice somewhat teasing, "I know very well what you're thinking. However, it would be very appreciated if you bothered to finish this,'' the ANBU said, looking pointedly at the paperwork on the desk then turning his knowing gaze to the Hokage's eyes,"before you deem yourself fit to do anything else, like, oh, taking a three hours long walk in the village.''

''Kiba, you know very well that it is nothing less than impossible to finish all these under a day...'' Hiruzen grumbled tiredly. He had barely slept these past few days, too busy to even return home and forcing his wife, Biwako, to take care on her own of their youngest born, Asuma.

''I know that very much, Hokage-sama. Who do you think works as a substitute team captain? Really, Hokage-sama, you intend to work this old man to the ground don't you? And that brat I replaced, what was his name? Ah yes, Hachidori. Such talented young man as well. But don't you think that I deserve rest as well?"

''Yes yes, now leave me alone would you?"

The ANBU only gave the Hokage a two-finger salute before leaping out of the window, making a few papers slide down from their respective piles and glide to the floor.

A scroll was left in the one empty spot on the Hokage's desk and Hiruzen picked it up grudgingly, adding yet another few inches to the ever growing piles of mission reports. He reached up to adjust the hat that Kiba had thrown back to him while muttering angrily.

* * *

-Konoha-

''My, what a beautiful day!" A boisterous voice rang through the stall in the middle of the busy village. The street was bursting with people walking on its beaten path; small thumps could be heard occasionally as shinobis landed on black tiled rooftops, and suspended webs created sky walks for both animals and shinobis as their lines of drying clothes swayed in the wind. But even in all this organized, rhythmic waves of people one stand stood out among many other tea shops and small restaurants: Ichiraku Ramen.

It's food, well-known for its simplicity and deliciousness, not to mention the affordable prices, was just as famous as the familiar faces that seemed to cling to the cozy, wooden chairs and the salty smell in the air. In fact it wasn't rare to see shinobis of all ranks hanging out in the small building; even the Hokage and his family were now regular clients. But one person stood out even more, and that was Uzumaki Kushina, refugee of Uzushio and now a fierce chuunin of the village.

She was a kunoichi like no other: she didn't turn to seduction nor medicine as many of her profession had done. No, Kushina was a fighter, all sharp teeth and nails, biting and screaming as she tore her way through her opponents; she was a sea of flames as red as her hair, like a spray of blood in the clear summer sky, and those around her couldn't help but follow in her steps. She wasn't a born leader but she affected the world all the same. There was not a drop of feminine qualities in her bones, not a hint of royalty despite what her blood dictates, yet she can easily prance around while acting as gracious as a fully trained Geisha. Uzumaki Kushina was an oxymoron in her existence and was proud of it.

The redhead proceeded to stretch her long limbs, and satisfied with the resulting cracks, she gently put down her bowl of ramen on the table. Humming happily a childish song under her breath, she stood up and left a few ryo beside the now empty bowl.

''Thank you for the meal, Teuchi-san, Ayame-chan!''

''No problem, Kushina-san! Beside, little Ayame is rather fond of you,'' a man with graying brown hair said from the kitchen. A little girl, probably three to four years old, was hiding behind his leg, looking shyly at the fierce Uzumaki. Kushina was hit by the sudden urge to hug that adorable little girl, to swipe her off her feet and twist and turn her in the air as if her own daughter.

"I'll come back soon! Bye, Teuchi-san, Ayame-chan!"

They both answered her with mirrored smiles, and at that moment none other than Kushina realized that both father and daughter looked incredibly similar.

''I swear, Teuchi-san is the best cook in the Elemental countries-ttebane!" She said to herself as she waved her hand at the girl who smiled back widely at her. Then she left the stand, crossing her arms behind her head in a carefree manner as civilians greeted her. She basked in the admiration they showed her, standing tall and proud as numerous pairs of eyes trailed on her.

Indeed Uzumaki Kushina was a fierce woman, a proud Uzumaki, and most of all, she was a kunoichi.

Just as she was about to turn around a corner, a flash of yellow bright as autumn crops caught her attention. And a devilish grin stretched her features.

''Oi! Namikaze!''

''...Kushina-san!''

Standing in front of a book store was Namikaze Minato, an old friend she made back in the Academy days. He was just as much of a mystery as she was, and maybe that was why fate had brought they together. Minato was calm and collected, a calm summer sky while Kushina was brash and straight-forward, unpredictable like dancing whirlpools in a stormy night; he was the ageless rock, the foundation of all while she was the fire created by the rock's sparkles. Minato was all that Kushina wasn't, the control that she lacked and the words behind her actions. They were both strong on their own, both geniuses in their own way. But together, they were unbeatable.

Kushina loathed him, Minato found her amusing, and so they were the best of friends.

''What are you doing, Namikaze? Burrowing your nose in books again? Or maybe are you trying to get a girlfriend by appearing snob and intelligent?'' the Uzumaki said in a playful voice.

Minato turned toward her with his usual sunny expression, smile and all in place. Kushina stared at him, curious but knowing better than to question him, and his sky blue eyes seemed to understand even without her having to say anything. ''Kushina-san, with much respect, I'm only doing my research.''

And since she knew him so well, and knew his very famous - or rather infamous - mentor by extension...

"...research...?" Suddenly she bowed her head, calm yet her entire being screaming, lashing out in outrage. In her mind, she laughed merrily at the faces Minato made. Really, that boy was _precious_. And Kushina decided, right there, that she wouldn't give him up for anything. He was just too funny.

"Heh? N-no! That's not it! Not _that_ research! It's just fuuinjutsu, I swear!" Minato explained as he broke into a nervous sweat.

Of course Kushina was fully aware of that as she recognized the scroll he was holding, but she wanted to make Minato sweat just a bit more. However, Kushina's fun came to an unfortunate end as a distinctive chakra signature landed on the roof of a nearby building.

There was a small tapping, the sound drowned by the clamors of the streets, and just as abruptly as he came the ANBU left.

Minato gave Kushina a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck, showing his embarrassment at being caught doing something uncharacteristic of him even if he knew that particular ANBU wasn't one to talk much. ''Ah, well...''

"It's okay, just go. That was an urgent summon wasn't it?"

Minato smiled gratefully and turned around, raising his hand in a two-fingered salute.

"Well, see you at Sake night then!" He said and promptly disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Ignoring the stares from surprised villagers, the Uzumaki woman let out a frustrated sigh. Leave it to her own superiors to ruin her fun.

But then her grin returned. There was still Sake night, and it wouldn't do for her to forget such good gossip material...

With a small pouf of smoke distinctively lacking in leaves, Minato reappeared in the Hokage's office. He gulped down a laugh at seeing the village's leader buried behind a mount of papers and he felt a small amount of pity for the old man.

"Hokage-sama, were you looking for me?" Minato asked as he bowed respectfully.

"Indeed, Minato, indeed. I have a mission for you,'' the Hokage then threw a scroll to the blonde, his eyes not even leaving the scroll he was currently filling. Minato caught it expertly between his long fingers, used to the older man's antics. Loosening the chakra string holding the scroll close, he took a peek at the mission description and raised an elegant eyebrow questioningly.

Hiruzen, already sensing the questions coming, halted him with a lazy wave of his hand. "ANBU squad Dove discovered a chakra disruption in the Forest of Death, or if you prefer, training grounds 44. We need your team to investigate it. From what the team sensor claimed, there were two human chakra signals. They kept flickering on and off."

"Potential spies?"

Hiruzen chuckled at the question. "If they are, then they're really bad at their job."

However the hidden command, covered by a layer of fatherly mirth, still shone through his old, wise eyes.

_'Silence them.'_

"Understood," Minato replied with a nod. "But why ANBU? Why not Jonins? Surely they would be able to handle such a task."

At that the Sandaime Hokage's lips tightened into a fine line, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "Their chakra levels... I couldn't believe it at first. It had to be a mistake. But then, even for only a second, I felt it. It was... overwhelming." The Hokage, in an unusual gesture unfitting of his rank, clenched his jaw in frustration and worry. "I haven't sensed anything of that magnitude since... Hashirama-sensei."

Minato's jaw almost hit the floor when the Hokage finished talking. Two _U__nknowns_ of Kage level in the forest of Death, not from Konoha, and in such troubled times too... His entire body tensed.

It was a bold move, but it surely was successful.

If it wasn't a declaration of war, Minato didn't know what it was.

* * *

-ANBU HQ-

It was dark.

A warm fire burned in the fireplace, yet no smoke was seen, as if the shadows of the room swallowed up the air. Windows were rare and scattered; only the lamps, placed high on the walls and the ceiling, gave the place a somewhat inhabited feeling.

ANBU Headquarters. The place was almost like a legend, spoken of in whispers deep into the night. Some claimed to have been there, some others listened with frightened curiosity. Some said it was huge, almost like the Hokage building, while others said it was built right under the walls of said place. Sometimes underground, sometimes in the sky; ANBU HQ was a mystery much spoken of, but no one knew that the truth was much, much darker.

Tables and chairs were placed around the large room, made of old wood not yet cracked. The shadows, continuously dancing around with the movements of the fire, shed light over hunched white and black figures. They were like ghosts of and abandoned house, always in and out of sight, their presence felt yet never seen. Low murmurs emerged from them like mantras of the old days in a broken rhythm.

"Taka."

There was a muttered word from one of the occupied tables, and a figure shifted, responding to his name. He was just about to lay his hand on the table, a card between his fingers when a sudden crash resounded in the seemingly empty room, followed by the familiar sound of furious tapping on a screen and the scraping of the heavy doors on the ground.

"Taka! Nekomata! Inukami!"

Suddenly the shadows shifted and escaped as the light beyond the door invaded the room. Three figures jerked as they turned their hooded figures to the intruder.

"Main gate at hour 1800. Full-gear."

The figure then turned around and stormed out of the room toward the dorms. Everything seemed frozen for a moment until the doors closed slowly, painfully dragging on the screeching sound of metal rubbing against tiled floors. As if the click of the lock caused an explosion in the room, a storm of whispers began to fill the air.

"Hey, isn't that..."

"Yeah, it's him..."

"Is it about...?"

"Shhh! We're not supposed to talk about that."

"It's team Dove. But are you sure..."

And the bright light beyond the closed doors left the room in its previous state of darkness.

* * *

-West gate

Gusts of wind blew across the forest, shaking up threes as they took away small spirals of leaves. Three blurs landed on a tall tree, the branches swinging back and forth with the momentum they carried. The leaves shook but none fell, as if pulled back by an invisible force, creating a rustling of green and yellow mixed with the scent of fresh earth.

There was a dull thump and a hooded figure landed on the nearest tree, his feet solidly attached to a branch of equal height. He was the only one with the coat as the others didn't have the time to put on theirs.

"Captain," called softly one of the figures in a monotone voice. The bird masked person replied with a simple nod. The uneasiness seemed to stretch and grow, unnerving just like the team captain's unusual behavior.

"Ano, sir, the mission?" Nekomata asked, tone slightly breathless by all the unprepared running a few minutes prior.

"Squad Dove discovered a chakra disruption in the forest of death. Two human chakra signals, extremely low," answered Hachidori, his own mind wheeling as he tried to comprehend the oddity of it all.

Inukami gasped. "Then, the rumor...?"

The captain nodded grimly. "Yeah, it's true."

The wind, howling as dusk settled in, blew away the team's answer. The captain waited a few moments before giving his order.

"Let's go."

The leaves shook and there was nothing again.

They silently traveled through the forest, flying like ghosts as their bone white armors reflected the colorful shadows of the forest. There was no need for talking, already unnecessary as the tension grew in their muscles. They all understood the importance of their task. Little by little, the trees cleared and the sounds of wildlife quieted down as they soon arrived in a small meadow. Before them, however, was a gigantic fence; a fence that was well-used and battered with the metal still shining and gleaming under the faint sunlight, almost as if the long years of battles had had no effect. A shiver ran down their backs upon the team's arrival. A wooden board, badly scratched and the ink washed out by continuous exposure to the sun, displayed a fearsome name.

Training grounds 44, the Forest of Death.

_That_ forest. It was perhaps the most dangerous place found in Konohagakure. Powerful shinobis lurked there, yes, but most importantly... It was the first forest created by Hashirama Senju with his Mokuton. The older generation still remembered even to those days, how that man had rushed into battle again and again to defend this village, how from his scarred hand life surged forward at his bids and commands; how the wind would run and fan out his long brown hair, and perhaps some would remember another standing at his side, black hair spiky and unruly, red eyes glaring yet stance protective behind the Hokage.

This particular forest was special in the way it had drained the chakra right out of Hashirama's body, in the way new leaves had sprouted and strong barks had grown in all but a few minutes. It was said that it had been the First Hokage's favorite hang out place when he was alive. Beasts there, after dozens of years, had absorbed the powerful chakra that leaked from Hashirama into the soil and they, for a lack of words, had _transformed. _The Forest of Death was mightily beautiful, but it carried its name proudly and with a reason. After all, born from Hashirama's hands, the forest was just as beautiful as the man was yet as deadly as the Senju's power. It was ironic how Hashirama had created life only to end another's.

Despite all the hundred years long history people still avoided that place. Well everyone with a small exception with the name of Mitarashi Atsuki. As the crazy Chuunin she was, she would often 'reserve' the forest for training purposes and disappear within for at least one week. The amazing thing was, she always came back without a scratch as if nothing had happened there. But everyone in the village knew better since, well, the crazy laughter and the sound of breaking trees starting way too early in the morning and ending far into the night had to come from somewhere. And no one dared to ask, being too afraid of her... volatile character.

Suddenly the captain jumped over the fence and stepped into the treeline. His teammates hesitated briefly before following him.

"Tch, at least the Mitarashi lady isn't on one of her rampages, _Hachidori__,_" muttered angrily Inukami.

"Silence. It's Captain for you," Taka replied as he jumped forward. "Instead of complaining, do your job as a tracker will you?" Inukami threw back at him a few curses that were all blatantly ignored, then abandoned and followed suit. It was no use arguing with the ever silent Taka. The sun was setting while they went deeper and deeper in the forest, and finally Inukami stopped and tilted her head, as it sniffing something in the air.

At the small pause, Taka halted his steps and turned toward his teammate. ''What do you smell, Inukami?''

"A trail... a faint smell of fresh blood. We are nearing the targets, though I cannot tell how fare we are yet." Nodding at the answer, Hachidori quickly jumped to a higher branch on another tree and urged his team to continue.

"No worries. Taka should be able to see them soon."

The trail was well hidden, and Minato doubted they would have been able to follow it if there wasn't two trackers on his team. However, it was slightly worrying. If they were truly Kage level, his team shouldn't even be able to sense anything even meters away from them. But this... it was as if they intended to be found. As they neared a rocky side of the forest, Hachidori began to see signs of carelessness, like those a rookie would make but in this case more because of severe injuries. Patches of crumpled leaves, the air soaked with the scent of blood...

He narrowed his eyes behind his mask. Whoever was here was injured. Badly, if not already incapacitated. Taka gestured toward a small hole in the rock and they headed toward it, cautious of any traps laid close and hidden behind summer leaves.

The entrance to the cave was small, barely a hole dug in the ground. Hachidori motioned Inukami to go in first, himself following closely behind.

"Captain..." Inukami was on edge.

"Yeah. It shouldn't have been this easy." Suddenly his grip faltered as his foot slipped, but he caught himself just in time. The cave widened as they went it further, and Hachidori realized that the slippery thing was what had allowed them to squeeze through the narrow entrance easily. A small path let them further underground.

They went down carefully, sticking to the rocks with chakra, and suddenly the path ended in a wide, dark space. The overwhelming scent of blood nearly knocked Inukami out. Even Minato felt the urge to puke, but he quickly grabbed a piece of cloth he had ripped earlier on a sharp rock and stuffed it under his mask. It was unorthodox and hindered his senses, but as Hummingbird he wasn't the nose. That was Inukami. His eyes watered with the pungent smell; he could almost see the thickness of the metallic odour in the air. But he had to concentrate. As Hummingbird he was speed, but also-

"DOWN!"

The ears.

He had the time to grab Inukami by her collar and pulled her down with him to the ground. The surprised cry and the thump behind them indicated that Taka had done the same with Nekomata. A dozen of shuriken and kunai whizzed past them and ingrained themselves into the rocks a few feet behind, leaving a small cut on his sleeve.

Hachidori strained his ears when he caught a small sound, amplified by the echo of the closed space. It was barely a whisper and he didn't understand the content, but it was repeated a few seconds later.

"Who?" a weak, feminine voice asked. It was hard to capture her presence in the shadows, but if he took into consideration the length and the height of the room as well as how the echo traveled...

_'There!'_

There, hiding in the shadows, was a figure holding on something long and thin. The darkness covered her so it was almost impossible to make out her traits.

"Captain. Eight meters at 40 degrees East, chokuto in hand, injuries of third degree, and level of threat..." Taka made a frustrated sound behind, as if he couldn't quite comprehend nor explain what he was seeing.

"It's okay, it's to be expected. Thank you, Taka."

With that Hachidori turned back to where the woman was. He stared where her eyes should be for a few seconds, then suddenly he jumped. Just there, he saw for a split second a glint of red, demonic eyes glaring back at him.

_'...my imagination...?'_

He heard her shift, probably pointing her sword toward them and hissing menacingly, daring them to approach her. Minato moved slowly to the left so she can see his entire team with the last rays of sunlight entering the cave.

''We are ANBU from Konoha. Who are you? What are your affairs with this village?''

''Ko...Konoha?'' She managed to hiss out between clenched teeth, and for the first time, Minato realized with a start that she seemed more desperate than anything. She was not holding herself right, leaning heavily on the stone wall as if hiding something from them, using her injuries as pretense.

"Yes. from which village are you? Or are you a missing-nin?"

"I w-will only answer to you Hokage," she answered with a choking voice. It was as if she couldn't believe something, as if her voice was filled with pained bewilderment. It puzzled Hachidori and he made a mental note to file that in for later.

"Ha?!" Inukami yelled, "How dare you make a request when you're only a filthy _spy_-"

Hachidori held up his hand for her to stop.

"B-but captain..."

"Enough." He turned to his other teammates, a few steps behind. "You too. Let me handle this."

They backed off with much apprehension for they wouldn't dare go against a direct order from him, but their grips only tightened around their respective weapons as a show of their loyalty.

"You," the ANBU captain started, "what is your goal?"

"The Hokage-" she attempted to answer before her coughs interrupted her. They were laced with something desperate, and wet drops of what could only bee blood dripped down as the stench of fresh blood assaulted Hachidori's senses - they were running out of time.

His brows furrowed in frustration. "I will not repeat myself. What is your goal here, in Konoha? Answer me and I shall spare your life, _spy_. Perhaps then, if you behave, you will be granted an audience with Hokage-sama."

There was silence. Hachidori waited, but even after a full minute she didn't give an answer. So he gestured for Taka.

"She's still there," the man replied with his usual monotone voice.

Satisfied, Hachidori turned back to the intruder. "If you don't answer me, we will-" but he stopped himself, too shocked to continue with the threat.

Because, clothed by shadows, were twin, luminescent globs of furious red staring back at him.

"The Hokage." A demonic voice, so different from earlier yet with the same low, almost baritone quality, ordered.

A gasp was heard behind him. "C-captain, isn't that-?"

Hachidori didn't answer. He only mouthed for Taka to come forth. "We're bringing her back. You, take the other one." The fellow bird-masked ANBU shot him a nervous glance before stepping back, fusing with the shadows of the cave.

The woman gave an angry twitch. "You-!" She was about to attack them only to be halted by a firm grip on her wrists. The raven struggled within the grip, twisting and snarling, but didn't do much at all. "Release your weapons. We're heading to Konoha," Inukami murmured into her ear. The woman struggled a bit further, but in her weakened state she couldn't defy the ANBU. Just as she started to sag, by defeat or by exhaustion, a sudden and quick blow to her neck made her vision go black and she fell into Inukami's ready arms.

"Captain, I have her." Hachidori signed for Inukami to stay. "Nekomata, look after her. Stop the bleeding but keep her unconscious. I'm going after Taka."

Hachidori stepped into the darkness without delay, following the chakra trail his teammate left behind. The cave grew darker and darker, but his sharp senses prevented him from tripping. A minute after, the room came to an abrupt end with a wall, but just like the entrance there was a narrow path created by the space between the rocks. He went down, sensing Taka further in, before it suddenly came to a stop. Hachidori discovered a small chamber half-hidden by a cleaver cover of leaves, rocks and earth, mimicking the hard surface of stone.

Just as he was about to enter a hand brushed the leaves away, revealing Taka with a dark form in his arms.

Hachidori glanced at the human form in his teammate's arms. "Is that all?"

"Yes captain."

"Good. We're heading back."

They climbed back up to where the rest of the team was waiting. Hachidori was surprised, however, by a frantic Nekomata jumping toward him.

"Captain! We need to hurry. Her wounds were much more severe than I had predicted and I couldn't do much. She's not going to last long."

"Then what are you waiting for? We're going back," Hachidori ordered as he brought his arm down in a slashing motion, conjuring wind to blow away part of the entrance to widen the hole. Inukami and Taka wouldn't be able to pass while carrying a person.

The team stepped out into the twilight, and the ANBU captain was surprised to see the heavily bandaged woman in his female teammate's arms. Her inky, slightly spiky bangs fell into her face as her head rested against Inukami's chest, her expression torn between pain and torment. He suddenly thought about the red of her eyes in the cave, too familiar yet much more dangerous, a protective glint hidden by the rage, and a foolish thought plagued his mind.

_'She looks Uchiha.'_

He turned his gaze to the one Taka was holding. Dirty, mud-colored hair stuck to her face and clothes as some strands took the color of blood. She couldn't be older than the other one. It was hard to distinguish her features beyond the intense and probably agonizingly painful swelling, but he did recognize her tattered clothes as a dirty, orange jumpsuit. He frowned behind his mask and shook off his coat, revealing his armor and his purple bird mask.

"Captain?" Asked Nekomata as she finished applying gauze to the bigger cuts to the black-haired woman.

She watched silently, with a sense of foreboding, as he covered the other girl with his own coat.

"The night will be cold. She'll freeze." That was his explanation and all nodded, accepting his answer. But Nekomata couldn't help but glance back and her captain as they jumped back into to trees and notice how Hachidori seemed to stick much closer to Taka, or rather, the person he was carrying.

She didn't say anything as they traveled back to the village.

* * *

**Taka: Falcon. I chose that as he's the 'eyes' of the team and a tracker. Can anyone guess who he is?**

**Nekomata: Demon cat, a type of yokai (demon in Japanese folklore). It's also called 'bakeneko'. They are said to be two-tailed cats, and Matatabi, the two tails biju, is a Nekomata.**

**Inukami: Dog god (it's actually a joke. DOG and GOD.) Anyway, it could also be spelled 'Inugami'. The Inugami is a type of dog yokai. A legend says that it fed on fear and hatred, and has the ability to curse people of its creator's choice if its creator can control the Inugami. It's said to have been a dog that people buried up to its neck and let starve, then put food just out of its reach. When the dog would stretch its neck to attempt to eat the food a person would cut its head and worship it, thus turning it into a yokai of hatred. The Inugami, in some versions, could detach and attach its head.**

**Chokuto :** **A**** straight one edged J****apanese sword.**


	4. Chapter 4, Arriving

**Chapter 4: Arrival**

**Disclaimer: ****Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Kishimoto-sensei in any way and form, and I do not own the few Latin quotes that will pop out here and there. I however own the plot and the Ocs, as well as the description of some places and the characterization of some less-known characters in the original anime/manga.**

**Updated: February 27 - I somehow went from the original 2000 and some words to 7500 in a day and a half... without changing the plot at all, just shifted around the organisation and yeah. I just. *cry in a corner***

**Sorry it took soooo long, but I was in the middle of a hectic month of never ending loops of exam-assignment-presentation-exam, so, yeah...**

**I'll try to get to the fifth chapter real soon! The newest chapter is also halfway done :)**

* * *

-Konoha General Hospital

It was awfully silent.

The Konoha General Hospital, with it's tall stature and white walls, was an oddity in its brightly-colored village. The halls smelled of chemicals and spare rooms were few and far in-between; but it has always been and still is, despite its severe lack of competent medic-nins, a peaceful haven where patients could rest undisturbed.

Yet today that calm was brutally brushed away as the sound of wheels scraping against the floor echoed in the corridors, followed by distressed screams and the chaotic clacking of heels.

A room was quickly emptied for immediate use as two beds were wheeled across the first floor, doctors and nurses rushing to the aid of those already present. Soon enough the loud bang of doors being closed shut was heard in the hospital wing, and the maelstrom of panicked actions migrated into the room. Few nurses still ran in the corridors, buckets of hot water and piles of clean towels in hand; but they too were sucked into the room, leaving behind only the ghosts of their white blouses.

The hospital was calm again.

However, in that particular operation room, everyone was in a frenzy; towels, water and bandages, both clean and bloodied, were passed around the room. Medic-nins struggled to treat the wounds as the others made room for them. The black-haired patient seemed at least to be stable, having already received first-aid treatment on the field as proved by the quickly bloodying bandages wrapped around her body. However the same couldn't be said for her comrade, who was immediately hooked to various machines monitoring her faint heartbeat. As nurses worked around the raven to clean her wounds, swarms of medic-nins crowded the other half of the room, unknowingly hindering each-other's movements as they all tried to take care of the patient.

Suddenly the doors burst open with a loud clank and a loud, angered voice called out.

"What the _hell_ is going on here?!" Golden eyes scanned the room critically before a frown sketched itself on the woman's features. "What are you all doing here? Get _out_! You're just wasting time!"

The chaotic movements halted at her call, and the nurses hesitated, looking at each others, trying to decide whom will leave first, all unwilling to test the woman's patience yet too afraid to walk anywhere near her.

"What are you waiting for? I said _out_! Anyone who isn't a medic-nin, leave _this instant_!" She seethed, on the brink of unleashing her fury upon her subordinates. Frightened, they scrambled around for a bit before running for the exit. The room was instantly cleared except for a few. The woman huffed in annoyance before closing the door behind her, walking closer to the closest medic-nin and picking up a bucket of water and a towel, left behind on the floor.

"Misaki, current conditions?"

"H-hai! Let's see, the black-haired one is confirmed to have about four fractured ribs that have punctured her left lung. Both her arms seem to have been broken and a wound has clearly cut through her right biceps. We also suspect a concussion. Her internal bleeding, at least, has been reduced to minimal quantities."

The woman winced, her golden eyes inspecting the patient on the other side of the room, which was filled with much more equipment and smelled strongly of fresh blood. "And the other one?"

Misaki shifted uncomfortably, guilt and fear in her eyes as she glanced warily at her leader. A heavy sigh left the woman as she realized what the strange emotions stood for.

"Nevermind. I'll take care of her. You guys!" She called to the other occupants of the room, "Take care of Black. We'll call her that for the moment. I'll handle the other. Misaki! Come with me," she ordered as she dumped her load in Misaki's frail arms.

She walked a few steps before noticing the lack of sound behind her. She stomped angrily on the floor with her heel before turning back. "What are you waiting for?! _Get to work_!"

She was met with silence until a voice squeaked meekly, "Hai, Tsunade-sama!" It turned out to have been Misaki, who was already by her designed patient's bedside and wiping off the dirt and the dried blood to have a better look at her wounds. Tsunade smirked in satisfaction as the medic-nins returned to their frantic activities with the answer.

They would be shut into the room all day. Only the dusty sky of a new morning would lure out the group of medic-nins, with at its head an utterly exhausted but satisfied woman with golden eyes.

* * *

_'Ohhh... my head hurts...'_

Slowly, twin azure colored orbs blinked open.

''This place... my mindscape?''

Green, lush grass caressed the blonde's cheek as it swayed with the wind. The familiar sight coaxed a soft sigh from him as he shifted closer to the soft touch, feeling the grass tangle themselves into his hair and creating a soft cushion. A carpet of lilies and violets laid near, petals fresh with dew; Naruto reveled in the scent, all morning and early summer with a touch of sunlight.

It was a liquor that he could never have enough of.

He placed his hands on the earth, feeling the soft hum of chakra under his fingers. Naruto smiled softly as strands of deep velvety red came to tickle his palms, bold and joyous, always ready to welcome him back. They tangled with his own chakra and, as vines would curl and spiral, flowed up his arms, into his shoulders, down his back and brushing his sides then up again, reinvigorating him. Then they pooled at his navel, almost like the whirlpool at his back, and Naruto, twisting the crimson strings with his own blue ones, smiled at the reminiscent of the pattern that used to be inked deep into his skin, a kind of scar that could never be erased and that he would never want to. The red strands danced mirthfully, coiling around his arms and fingers and pulling ever so slightly. Slowly, with a satisfied groan, Naruto pulled himself up, glowing red strings, invisible to most, unraveling and forming a trail of warm chakra spilled onto the earth.

A soft wind ruffled his hair, all familiarity and a kind of quiet that hadn't came by since the day he no longer was a child, and it was the sole reminder of a bloodied yesterday, a past that no longer exists. Strangely the air carried the scent of burnt leaves yet wasn't choking with heavy smoke, and if only by a little, the world darkened, the previous sheen now covered by rain clouds and rising uneasiness. The red strands now seemed to glow a sinister red closer to rivers of blood than the bright orange-red of autumn forests, and shadows grew from branches here and there, as if thousands of graves have been dug in all but an instant, too numerous to remember yet macabre in a way that one could not forget.

Because over the years Naruto had grown, an old soul in a body of barely twenty springs, and for all that he was strong he was also only a child that had lost all of the little he had asked for and more.

Yet it didn't more than a simple wave of a hand to discard the grey sky and bury the voices of the dead; a small flick of the eyes and the shadows retreated, almost as if scared of the being that ruled over this world. A mindscape was made to reflect one's psychological status, like a mirror that zooms in all of your defects and using the rough edges to create a perfectly smooth picture, full of flaws yet never more beautiful, and by the time Naruto had learned how to patch up such worlds his has already been shattered beyond comprehension. And it was easy then, to move pieces of what has been broken, to pick them up and glue them together to make something even more resistant and beautiful, because it will always be harder to destroy a chipped mirror that's clinging to its pieces than a work of art that's too frail to have known the world.

Naruto ran a clawed hand through his hair, blond tresses and soft spikes catching in the pointed nails and tugging at his scalp. He ran his eyes across the meadow he was in. Weeping willows, scattered here and there, dipped their long branches into the crystalline water of a nearby lake. Its smooth surface was broken by rocks that formed a narrow and irregular path on the water, glowing a faint red, like a taint under the sunlight. At the horizon, a forest composed of a few hundreds conifers covered a mountainside, the dark green thinning and turning into a snowy white as it neared the peak; a valley was at the mountain's feet, but the scenery beyond was shrouded in mist. A small waterfall, flowing from an opening in the rocky side of a hill, created a gentle music, like raindrops on metal, as the water met the surface below.

The blonde, with renewed strength, stood, and closed his eyes. The wind swept past him gently, ruffling his sun-kissed hair, and whispered into his ears a sweet melody. He tilted his head backwards and listened. A split second and the smallest of movements later, he was on the lake, the soles of his feet creating ripples and deflecting the light. But as soon as he landed he was airborne again, graceful in the leap and fluid as he somersaulted once, twice, and his feet touched solid ground again, his skin warm against the freshness of damp rocks.

It didn't have any other meaning that the pure want and excitement of movement and peace, the thrill of the world turning on its head and the fraction of stability as the sky flips around again, and Naruto _laughs_, light like chiming bells with an undertone of something raspy that hasn't been heard in a long time. Soon he's close enough to the waterfall so that his clothing is damp with mist and his pants are soaking, sticking to him like a second skin but still almost weightless, and uncertainty flickers in his eyes as Naruto stepped into the cave hidden behind. It isn't so much of apprehension as it is the fear of the unknown, like how once your belongings are removed your room appears to be strangely unfamiliar, but Naruto doesn't have the time to hesitate further. Red strands, curled on themselves like thick ropes, shot out of the darkness and dragged him inside.

He was gone too quick to realize that among all the red was a single string of gold.

* * *

When he opened again his eyes, it was to the sight of a disgruntled fox too big for the cave to contain without it curling up like a cat. Nine tails tipped with white fanned out behind the gigantic beast, and Naruto had to blink twice at the unfamiliar coloring.

**"Brat."**

''Kurama. I can see that you are very... comfortable. The color suits you too.''

The Kyubi growled, baring her teeth, dangerous to all that doesn't know her tendency to show more anger than what was really felt, and looked down the the human smaller than a single of her claws.

**"Naruto... Do I need to tell you or are you going to what you should?"**

The blonde chuckled, almost relieved. "Kurama. It's been a while." The fox's eyes softened imperceptibly, but quickly hid the fondness she'd never admit to feeling.

**"Yes, yes. Hurry up brat, we don't have the entire day." **She grumbled, and was met with a smile brighter than any suns.

"I'd like to keep you like that for a while, but on the other hand I don't exactly appreciate being made into a pancake should you decide to roll over. So yes, I guess I'll help." With that Naruto gestured toward the walls of the cave and the air shifted, twisted, pulled and suddenly Kurama was met with more space to run than he would have in a forest. With a satisfied growl she stood, tails brushing the ground, and paced around, too dignified to break into a run but unable to contain the urge to stretch her legs. Naruto allowed her to do so, watching contently as the Kyubi flickered in and out of sight, fur glistening red in the dark and a slight bounce to his steps.

Eventually the fox came back, circled around Naruto once and sat down, propping Naruto up between her tails and her soft underbelly. They stayed like that for a few more moments before Kurama broke the silence with a heavy sigh.

**"****Naruto, do you ****realize what Amaterasu-neesama ****did?''**

The blonde took a few seconds to reply, a certain amount of confusion in his tone. "About... the, well, time-travel?"

It wasn't much of time-travel than simply erasing a section of the continuum of time, like cutting away part of a fabric and sewing the ends together, but that was something even a great being like Kurama could barely comprehend. For all that the fox was old and knowledgeable the world had only seen a handful of time-travelers, all separated by hundreds of years, and at those times the Kyubi hadn't been interested enough in the mannerisms of humans to witness such impossibly foolish acts.

Even if she had seen she wouldn't have understood any of it, because the Kyubi was a being of nature, of _chakra_, part of the earth, and for her eternity was a small word. Kurama hadn't understood the urge to live, the will to survive, because it had been something she would never lose, and so never cherish. Killing held no more weight than crushing a few trees along his way, like ants beneath her paws; the need to protect something dear was very much unknown, and so doing something even remotely close to the craziness of time-travel was an idea that had never even crossed her mind.

But now... now, as much as Kurama would hate to admit, she was a bit more than a simple chakra construct, something between biju and human but not quite either of them, because the love she held for the small, frail yet insanely strong human nestled at her side was something she couldn't possibly have for any other, and the hatred she harbored for the Uchiha was beyond what could be controlled by the Gods themselves. Kurama was still the nine tails, a fearful creature of the Gods given form by the Rikudou Sennin, but she was also very much Kurama, a friend that refused to leave Naruto even if there was no seal to restrict her anymore.

Suddenly dying took on an entirely new meaning, because even if Kurama hadn't known the hurt of one's world slowly chipping away she did see it through Naruto's eyes, and that alone had been enough to convince her to keep Naruto alive. But then blonde idiot had been quite persistent on being suicidal in more ways than one, and so Kurama had taken the resolve to follow her only friend everywhere even if it meant a dangerous and most probably insane trip to the past.

Why would such a being of unspeakable power go to such extents for a simple mortal, you ask?

Even Kurama herself didn't know the answer. Perhaps it was Naruto's smiles, his cocky stubbornness, his mile-long hero tendencies, or even his unwavering will that was almost terrifyingly honest, but above all, Naruto was strong; not the beat-you-in-a-pulp kind of strong but a kinder one, hidden away deeper, and Kurama had been hooked ever since the very first day a blonde too small for his age had stormed into their shared mindscape demanding chakra.

"Kurama..." Naruto muttered, head buried into soft fur and fingers tangling curiously into white, "Kurama, what shall I do? I accepted without thinking, but time-travel is a bit..."

The _'what if' _was left unspoken but the Kyubi caught it anyway, and was reminded with a fond startle that _this_ was the reason why Naruto was so precious. He was exceedingly headstrong for a human, not out of cruelty but because of weakness, because of his passion for his dear ones, because Naruto was still but a child terrified of failing.

**"Kit, it's not as if there was anything to lose. If it works then we get a second chance, if it doesn't then at worst we get stuck between dimensions for all eternity, and as far as I'm concerned taking the chance is still better than being hopelessly dead and stuck in a pile of rotting flesh." **Of course they both know that once Naruto dies Kurama could easily reform once again in less than half a century, add or take a few years, but Kurama made her point and Naruto wasn't about to argue on such details.

The blonde let his head rest against the Kyubi's underbelly, rising in unison with each of the nine tails' breath, and stroked the shorter fur there. He took his time contemplating Kurama's answer before a final sigh escaped his lips. "A second chance, huh? I think... I'd like that. For them. For both of us."

Kurama grunted her agreement and rested her head on his front paws.

**"We'll have to be careful."**

"Yeah, this time around none of them is going to die before they hit fifty with swarms of children laughing at their wrinkled faces." Naruto said in good humor, but a sudden thought crossed his mind and his expression darkened. "But Kurama, what if... I mean, I never asked when we were going to... what if we jump too far back and..." he swallowed, his mouth queerly dry, "What if none of them is born yet? What if the changes we bring will change them forever? Will I... Will I ever see any of them again?"

**"I don't know, kit, but as long as we plan it out carefully nothing big should happen. And if they do change, then it'll be for the better. We'll just have to make sure that they become as strong as we knew them to be." **The fox brought up a tail to brush away golden bangs from Naruto's eyes. They were completely dry if not a bit misty, but Kurama was willing to allow such a show of weakness if it meant Naruto's sanity will stay safe.

**"They might not be the same, and you might never hold the same meaning to them, but they'll be happier. Not the... mess they were after that damn _Uchiha_ was resurrected," **Kurama spat out with a healthy amount of disgust and loathing dripping as she mentioned Madara. Naruto thought of those words and was abruptly reminded of memories years old and halfway faded, of old team seven with Kakashi and his exasperatingly lazy attitude, of short-haired Sakura with developing violent tendencies and fiery determination in her eyes, of dark Sasuke who hasn't yet been colored black and red by years of warfare.

Then there was Gai and Lee and their idiosyncrasies, never the same when there was only one left to carry the youthfulness of both, TenTen with her penchant for weapons that turned deadly and a newly reformed Neji who stuck to Hinata like an over-protective brother, who later died by her side still. Team 8 with bright and shy Hinata and Team 10 who worked like a well oiled machine since the very beginning, and the newly crowned Tsunade with Jiraiya by her side, one bruised and grinning like an idiot until the day he didn't come back. Naruto remembered the old lady at the bakery steps away from his apartment building, the breads and the occasional left-over cake she used to bring him when no one was looking, Teuchi and Ayame and the smell of their ramen when ingredients were still easy to come by.

There had been war and losses but they had been happy, keeping each other closer than ever before. It had hurt and stabbed and killed him when Madara had attacked but they've resisted together, fighting day and night and sneaking in moments of peace when time allowed so. They had been weak together, grown stronger together and died _together_, fining solace wherever they could. Images flashed, of Kakashi and Obito, memories of an innocence and lost love shared between them, of Kotetsu and Izumo and how one wasn't complete without the other, how one shouldn't be allowed to exist alone, of Kurenai and her child and Konohamaru who were the only ones left to remind her of the man she had loved.

Until Madara had taken that away too, wrenching it away from the handful of them left, and Naruto found himself agreeing wholeheartedly with Kurama.

"We'll have to make sure then. That they never, ever become the people we knew." And it didn't hurt, because Naruto would rather not know them than see them suffer as they all had before.

**"Now that is good and all, but we won't be able to do anything until we have a grasp on when exactly we were sent to. But for the sake of our safety I strongly hope we do land sometime before your birth. Before all their births."**

"...Kurama? You're not telling me something." Because the Kyubi was not one to hope for anything and even less admit to her hopelessness.

**"Naruto, do you know the consequences of time-travel?"**

"I admit to having researched the matter while researching Hiraishin, but I didn't get far enough to actually learn anything of importance before we burnt down the library." It was a year or so after the war had started. Konoha was barely standing and Madara was nearing, and Tsunade had decided that a bunch of books lost was a small price to pay for running away safely. If they were leaving the knowledge behind, they sure as hell won't be wrapping it up for Madara to find.

**"As I thought. Listen closely, brat. Time is something that no human should dabble, as even we biju approach the matter with apprehension. Normally any attempts to jump forward or backward will fail as it is theoretically impossible to leave a marker strong enough to grab onto one's soul and stabilize it within a time that is not its own, not to mention disappearing from a timeline without creating some form of backlash. Now, as it is Amaterasu-neesama who performed the act, we should be able to make the travel fairly easily. However a soul can only exist once in a timeline, so if you were to coexist with a younger you it would be breaking the balance the world has worked so hard on preserving. Following me so far?"**

"Yes. The Hiraishin countered that by setting a marker on the user himself so that the preset marker he was being transported to would be able to recognize the emitted signal within a certain distance, and those markers and anchored within a separated space pocket that time does not influence. If would indeed be wiser to send Sasuke and I to a time where we do not yet exist. But that would also erase our markers..."

**"I have a theory about that. Amaterasu, as a Goddess, is not bound by time and as such is probably using herself to set the ground for us in the past. It is somewhat the same for us biju, as we are part of this world's essence, so she must have linked me to my past self and used our connection to drag you along. As for the _Uchiha_..." **Kurama explained, pausing to let her words sink in, **"He's a direct descendant of the Rikudou Sennin. As much as the sage's blood has thinned over time it should just be about enough so that it would resonate with the other carriers of the blood and allow his soul to make it through safely."**

The grip on Kurama's tails tightened as Naruto looked up, alarmed. "Which means that if we don't go back far enough, if the Uchiha massacre has already happened, Sasuke, he..."

Kurama wrenched her tail from the blonde's hands and hissed, **"Careful brat! You shouldn't worry about such things. Amaterasu-neesama would have taken it into account." **Naruto breath a sigh of relief and sagged into the pile of tails and soft fur.

"What's with the color change anyway? It's kinda weird to see you in anything but red or orange," he asked, stroking questioningly the white tipped members.

**"This? Amaterasu-neesama purified me. Said too much hate wasn't good for an immortal being." **Now that the mood was less tense Kurama reverted to the relaxed speech she has adopted from Naruto. **"It's not as if I'm the only one to change appearances anyway."**

"What do you mean?"

**"You don't know? Then this is going to be good..."**

"Kurama? What is it? Tell me! Is it me? Sasuke?"

**"Why should I spoil the surprise? You'll see in an instant, brat."**

The blonde wanted to ask the fox what she meant, but with a great flick of her tails Kurama unceremoniously kicked Naruto out of their mindscape. All the blonde caught before the world faded to black was a malicious smile on the vixen's face.

In the cave, the legendary Kyuubi no Yoko grunted something to herself then went back to sleep as she didn't have anything else to do. But her sleep was not peaceful: no, she dreamt of red and orange, of dancing flames and screams under her claws, of flesh that tasted of blank mindless tools and Madara's chakra. She dreamt of death and blood, of darkness and crimson, of the taste of the trill to contribute in a battle she wasn't forced to fight. But most of all, she dreamt of amber eyes far older than her and the smell of home.

* * *

It wasn't a secret that the general shinobi population would rather suffer silently than pay a visit to the hospital. That was true even for some of the field medic-nins, and so it shouldn't come as a surprise that Naruto despised hospitals. He hated the overwhelming scent of antiseptics, the overly sterilized walls, and most of all he hated the gloomy mood and the agony on people's faces.

When Naruto was a child, barely able to make ends meet by spending his time in the back alleys of the more tolerant restaurant owners, the hospital had been a place he avoided at all costs. Medic-nins were some of the shinobi who trod closest to the bridge between life and death, always close yet never crossing, and so they had been the firsts to remind Naruto that he was unwanted, a pariah at best, because they've been the firsts and lasts to witness the damages and broken souls the Kyubi had left in his wake. Medic-nins were strong, strong enough to heal others' wounds and bear their weight, but for the same reasons they were also much more vulnerable to their bloody career, always hating, healing, wishing for a world where their skills wouldn't be needed.

Naruto had never excelled academically, but he was by no means stupid. Years of surviving on the streets had given him a good head on his shoulders, a sense of observation surpassing by far any of his peers, and he knew hate when he saw it. He may not have understood, may have found it unreasonable, may have theorized and thought up the worst of scenarios, but he knew that he was not liked, and that living to see the light of another day was easier if he kept away from the crowds.

It just so happened that one day, while escaping from an angry mob on his birthday - it seemed to be a day of grief even though the village was festive - he had stumbled upon an abandoned house by one of the numerous empty fields created by the Kyubi's gargantuan steps, right outside the village's doors. It was a chance encounter, a possibility in million of others, but nonetheless it had turned Naruto's world upside down, given an entire meaning to his existence. Because he had long lost the mob pursuing him, because he was too far away to even hear the hubbub of shouting, and nothing had stopped him from venturing inside despite the oddly lit seals on the doors.

Only years later he would learn that it had been the old Hokage estate, destroyed half a decade ago and never rebuilt by fear of haunting memories, and more than everything it had been his by right because his _parents_ \- he almost had believed he didn't have any - had been the previous owners. But what Naruto did know on that day was that somehow he was the only one to enter the house in years, and that the glowing symbols - blood seals, now he knows - gave off a feeling of warmth and recognition. What he had learned on that day, the only things that made sense in his young mind that hasn't learned yet how to read properly, was that somehow, somewhere, people had left things behind for him. A pair of wakizashi that was too big and heavy for his untrained build to bear, scrolls upon scrolls full of symbols and scribbled writing he couldn't read, and letters far too old and damaged for him to decipher.

But Naruto had kept them because he knew that they were _his_, an ownership he never dared to imagine, and a decade later, with blood on his hands and an army at his reach he would look back and smile, because now the wakisashi were a familiar weight in his grip, Hakuhio and Yomi and the pride of wearing his mother's legacy, and the letters were kept close in a pocket before his heart because they were the love and the tears of his scattered family, the history of an entire clan wiped out in a single day.

The rest was kept in a seal on his wrist, one of the few things he allowed himself to carry beside the burden of saving the world, and Naruto was content, proud even, of Hakuhio and its black and blue hilt with Life carved inside an Uzumaki swirl, of Yomi, all black and red strings covering its name in swirls of golden paint. Later he added to his personal inventory a tri-prolonged kunai, rusted but still dear, a headband of a swirling village years burnt the the ground, and books, tons of them, on sealing and centuries of memories passed down in his newfound family, mixed into them bright-covered novels of questionable content that held much more meaning that they should.

Naruto was a man of his words, full of determination only someone so young could harbor, but he was also a man built by hate and shunning and war and the knowledge of three clans, because for all that they were once numerous he was still the very last of them, of the Senju and the Uzumaki and the Namikaze, and Naruto would be damned if he let all of that go to waste.

But for now Naruto was simply waking up from a long slumber and being promptly assaulted by the mother of headaches.

'_Damn Kurama for throwing me out of MY mind...'_

It was easy to pretend being asleep like he had done so many times before, paranoia kicking in, but tensing his muscles sent a jolt of pain down his spine. A quick assessment of his conditions revealed that he in fact was bare of all his weapons, and for that he almost jumped up if not the fact that what he was laying on was definitely too soft to be the tree bark he had been accustomed to. The feeling of a bed was strangely alien and too good to be true, and it had been so long since his clothing hadn't stuck to him with drying blood and dirt that he felt naked. His body also felt slightly off, as if his balance has been disturbed, but he passed it up simply being unsteady and tired, or perhaps shaken by the recent events - dying, a dream, Amaterasu, the past, and he asked himself if it wasn't all just an illusion.

Yet it still didn't, couldn't have prepared him to the scent of fresh leaves and summer that drifted from what must be an opened window, all flowers and joy and green covered earth, everything that once made Konoha _home_.

So he laid there in silence, flabbergasted and a bit confused as to what he should do as the sound of children and mirthful laughter echoed from the hallway. It was something he hadn't heard for years, the young and the old too fragile to have withstood the war, and his heart ached at the reminder of what could have been, what was once upon a time. But pondering will not tell him anything other than the fact that it was _Konoha_, obviously well before the Fourth Shinobi War, and that the bad smell of antiseptics and the beeping machines he was currently hooked to couldn't indicate anywhere else than the hospital. Which means he was sometime between the end of the Second War up to his birth, during Sarutobi's reign - the Yondaime had been Hokage for only a year, and so wasn't counted as much as Naruto hated to admit - and Naruto had to pause, because his jiji was _alive_, not the old man he knew but still him, and that was... good, the best, and even if Naruto knew it will hurt to see the unfamiliar look in the Sandaime's gaze he was hardly going to complain.

Naruto was also very much impatient, one of the few traits he kept from his childhood, so he naturally tried to sit up after deciding that no one would be trying to kill him, only to discover that his aching back may just do the job.

He gritted his teeth, almost biting his tongue, refusing to let a pained grunt escape his throat. The sudden soreness wasn't something he wasn't used to and he had lived through much worse, but it was unexpected and he didn't have time to brace himself.

"Finally up, brat?" Someone said, a hint of sarcasm and amusement laced with worry, and the familiarity of it all hit Naruto like a ton of bricks.

_A hand in his hair, hidden strength barely kept at bay, and a smile on an ageless face._

_"Well done, Naruto."_

He suppressed the tears that threatened to fall, a fragility that he usually refused to show, and pried open his eyes, a mix of dread and wistfulness swimming in his heart and pooling on his tongue.

'S_o she is alive then... I'm really in the past, huh?'_

"You certainly was a hassle to deal with. How did you end up like that anyway?" The scraping of chair legs on the floor and heels clacking only confirmed his suspicions, a familiar scent carried by the breeze, and Naruto was floored.

"Not talkative, are you? What about your name?"

And Naruto didn't know what to answer, because he was in the _past_, alive, and couldn't think of anything more even as a multitude of thoughts passed by his mind. He wanted to answer, to ask, when it was, if everyone was fine, if his father was Hokage yet, to do _something_, but his lungs were constricted and his throat parched.

Before he could attempt talking a strong arm swooped him up with practiced ease and popped him up with a pillow behind his head, a glass of water shoved in his hands. Naruto was startled, not sure as to how to react, but was interrupted by a sigh.

"Drink. It's not poisoned."

Naruto listened, gulped down the liquid eagerly, throat burning and lungs heaving, and even if he knew he should have been more careful he couldn't care less. Because in a flash of lucidity he thought everything could have been a lie, Madara, a torture that refused to let him die, vengeance for having thwarted the Uchiha's plans, but Madara was _dead_, gone, forever buried, and it was enough so that Naruto wouldn't regret dying this instant.

"Better?"

"...Yes, thank you." And he had to blink, for he didn't remember his voice being that high-pitched. Distantly he heard Kurama chuckle, and he knew instantly this couldn't be anything good.

''You're welcome. Now, what's your name, dear?" Naruto almost choked, for Tsunade never, ever called anyone _that _except children, much less him of all people, and wondered for a second if he hadn't been drooped off to a crazy alternative dimension. But as he whipped his head around his eyes met amber, understanding with curious wonder, and it was very much the same eyes as his baa-chan. And in all that he conveniently forgot about the question, so he just dumbly stared back.

A small sigh was heard before Tsunade repeated herself, this time much slower, "Your name. What's your name?"

"Ah, I..."

'_What am I supposed to say? She probably already knows I'm at least part Uzumaki by performing a blood test, but chances are it didn't detect my Namikaze genes. If I've already been conceived and my parents already named me and I were to call myself Uzumaki Naruto... But Tsunade is no fool. She'll be checking the shinobi records so I can't give a random unregistered name. Playing the orphan or the illegitimate son would be way too suspicious and I'll risk landing myself in T&amp;I if I'm not on their schedule already. What do I do?'_

Naruto knew he would be able to do it. Pretending to be someone else was easy, only repeating what he had done as a child, all fake smiles and exaggerated cheerfulness, but at the same time he knew he was far from being the the best conditions to do it. It was well hidden, and you had to dig deep to find it, but it was there, omnipresent, surging upward at every weakness he showed. Insanity was something he learned to live with, couldn't part with now, and can offer him the perfect opportunity as much as it could blow his cover.

Uzumaki Naruto was more than a name, it was what made Naruto who he was, because it was his title, as Sixth Hokage, as a man who was still alive within the sea of blood and corpses. Because without it he would only be a ball of tightly controlled fury and madness, not quite demonic but surely not human anymore, a maelstrom of loss and love and hate all rolled into one being, hanging by a thread to humanity, and Naruto was not about to let that last piece go now.

He'd been close once, too close, and even now just thinking about it makes him clench his jaw and dig his claws into his palms hard enough to draw blood.

_Red. So much red, and lavender and violet and the grey of the sky dripping to the earth, smelling of rain and washed away blood. The cold was seeping through his clothes and it was numb, so numb, even as fire raged around him and inside his chest, blue and red and fury about to explode yet so _numb_. Kurama was yelling, unintelligible but there and it was a small comfort in the barren lands, a once fertile land near the sea that was now but a destroyed war zone._

_Lavender, sweet, sweet lavender but tainted and withering, and Naruto held it to his chest closer still, never close enough, never long enough but still there, a single moment between two eternities, and it was dry and wet with a cough but it was laughter, a smile and Naruto looked down, not fully comprehending yet hearing it all._

_"Naruto-kun..."_

_Hinata._

_Hinata._

_Hinata._

_And, blood. God, so much blood, drenching the both of them and clinging to them even as rain washes it away, and it's cold, too cold, and it was Hinata and blood and she was smiling even as her eyes were closing. _

_"Hinata! No, no, nonononono this couldn't be-couldn't- happen - no!" The voice was panicked, muffled as if faraway, but he realized that it was his own._

_And she only smiled, a pitiful thing compared to what it was before yet the equivalent of ambrosia to him, a balm to his wounds despite the gaping hole in her chest, smiling and almost laughing with her lost eye closed, and Naruto wanted to scream and cry and kill and hold her but she was leaving and he couldn't stop it._

_''Naruto-kun... go...back..."_

_Hinana's voice, still so sweet but no longer shy, strong but weak and it was Hinata, blood and death and Naruto couldn't let go._

''_No! I refuse! Hinata, Hinata, Hinata please, we-I need you please pleasepleaseplease I-"_

_She interrupted him again with a finger at his lips and a cough, smile now a grimace and Naruto stops._

_ A painful sob wrenched Naruto's throat, and it came out in a fit of cold coughs and trembling._

_''Naru-kun... one thing..."_

_Holding her closer, wanting to tear his heart out for her, anything, but not this. Not this, because he had heard it time and again, last wishes and goodbyes and love confessions but not Hinata, not from her, never, because she's not dying, she shouldn't be, couldn't be._

_But it was nonetheless true and Naruto couldn't deny her._

''_Naruto-kun, I just... smile? Like you always have..."_

_Naruto didn't answer. It was a promise and they both knew it, and he hugged her, their bodies fitting into each other like pieces of a broken puzzle, rain falling harshly and digging into their skin like blades of ice. And it was numb, oh so numb, and _cold_, because it was the rain around them, the corpses on the muddy ground and never, never the body in his arms too cold to be alive._

_A broken cry escaped his lips, like something that he couldn't express properly, as the scent of lavender was washed away._

_And Naruto swore, before himself, Hinata and Madara and the world, he swore and raged and killed, mad laughter with an undertone of the Kyubi and twin rings that will forever be incomplete at his neck, that he would always be hers and only hers._

"Miss?" The call suddenly brought the Uzumaki out of her reverie, and she was startled, hesitant, but looked out the window at the giant carved heads, three less than the monument in her memories, and she laughed, laughed and laughed, pain and joy and irony, at the edge of insanity but not falling, because she was still the same man who was the Kyubi's jinchurikki and Sixth Hokage, the same man who had been broken too many times to count yet still fixated on saving the world, the same man who had lost the woman he loved and who had too little time to do anything yet lived far too long in his suffering.

She was still the same but no longer because she was now a woman stuck between her non-existent past and an unknown present.

"My name... my name is Uzumaki Naruto."


	5. Chapter 5, revelation

**Chapter 5: Revelation**

**Disclaimer: This is my second story on , so... here you go! I'm going to mess a lot with the timeline, so don't be surprised if you see something that doesn't exist in the original timeline. I should have said this sooner since I already made young Naruto into a slightly different person in the last chapter, but I kind of... forgot.**** I do not own the characters of Kishimoto-sensei in any way and form, and I do not own the few Latin quotes that will pop out here and there. I however own the plot and the Ocs, as well as the description of some places and the characterization of some less-known characters in the original anime/manga.**

**EDITED MARCH 30 2016 (I did it again. Went from a meager 3K to a 10K+ chapter. I'm so, so sorry for everyone who'll be reading the next few chapters. Go ahead. Wince and the unedited-ness of it all. Until I find enough time to edit that chapter as well, that is.)**

* * *

-Naruto-

It was stupidly comic, Naruto decided, when the silence stretched out for a full minute, with in-between three gasps, five choking sounds, two blinks, and an uncountable number of poor attempts at speaking.

It was odd, being the one usually on the flustered end of the stick and having Tsunade smirking at the other, but it was something Naruto could get used to. Watching the other blonde struggle to breathe was strangely satisfying, a hand at her chest and eyes wide open in incomprehension, respiration ragged while keeping down the flush at her cheeks, and Naruto let her suffer for another thirty seconds before stepping in.

"I might use the name, but really, I'm only a half at best and I've been only once to Uzushio, so I'm not as informed as I should be." The lie slips past Naruto's lips surprisingly easy with a moment's thought, because after all those years she can spew tales of flying pigs as if she was talking about dinner. But this was only a deviated truth, half of a lie but not quite, because while Naruto is half Uzumaki she'd been thrice to Whirlpool, and the letters sealed away safely in her wrist had been detailed enough so that she might as well be Uzushio-raised.

There hadn't been much left when Naruto had returned to her mother's lands, but that was the first time, when she'd been more dragged there than anything because it had been barely a year after Jiraiya's death and he'd promised to go _with_ her.

The second time had been for a mission and perhaps also because of the guilt eating away at her heart, for Naruto wouldn't abandon the slightest chance at a family she has always dreamed about. The ruins hadn't changed at all, except the ever-growing vegetation covering up the last bits of a once glorious town, but Naruto had looked, and found she did - a few trinkets, a hair clip small enough to be that of a child, an Uzushio hitai-ate salvaged from a playground, lost jewelries made of seaside stones and patterns she had only seen in books before - but most of all she had found bodies, already decayed and buried under fallen buildings, some others in plain view in the middle of streets, and far too gone to give the city any resemblance of its former beauty or the haunting ghosts that must have lingered.

But the third time had been the charm, because Naruto's hair had been colored with strands of crimson a shade darker than Uzumaki, and the setting sun had seemed to turn the collapsed and dirtied white walls and the red tiled rooftops into a sea of glistening fires. The view had been simply mesmerizing, the streets clear where the light shone, for the bodies had been identified as best as she could have with the help of several documents stashed away in what had been the last Uzukage's office, the corpses buried in a massive graveyard dug a mile away, and those damaged beyond hope burnt in a single breathe of fire.

All because Naruto had grown in the two years between her second and third visit, because she'd been much closer to gaining the title of Seal Master, she had looked again, heart lighter and a call at the back of her mind to guide her, and had found the Uzumaki's entire existence under the tip of her fingers. It had ignited with a touch - the smallest of brushes and the lingering chakra of a clone dissipating - and the seal had echoed under her hands, in synchronization with her entire being, worming its way into her body and searching until it had found what it identified as _U__zumaki._

It had called upon hundreds of others, seals similar to the one Naruto had found, flashing yellow in the unmistakable chakra only her clan possessed.

After the third time she hadn't gone back ever again, not because of lack of opportunities but because Naruto's mind had been at peace, scrolls thought lost decades ago tucked into her backpack and memories fresh with ancient wars and a bustling city of gold and crimson and shining white under the sunset.

Naruto will always be more of Kushina's daughter than a Namikaze, and maybe a bit of Iruka's and Kakashi's or even Jiraiya's, but after her visits and the weight of a swirling hitai-ate on her arm she's just as much a descendant of Whirlpool.

It was the same for Tsunade, Naruto realized.

The sennin had even less Uzumaki blood in her, a generation away to being a half like Naruto is, and the Senju blood of her grandfather had always seemed to be stronger. But Tsunade had known Uzumaki Mito during her youth, when the woman had but a streak of silver in the bloody sea of her hair, still young to pass on the essentials of an Uzushio princess; and even weathered by the years it was apparent to the knowing eye, how still today Tsunade's poise and calculated stubbornness, the slant of her eyes and the determination in her steps spoke of the city overlooking the endless sea.

So Naruto looked, turning her gaze back to the woman from where it had wandered to the windows, and surely there was a storm, still brewing but already raining thunders and blanketing the amber of Tsunade's eyes.

"A half, you say..." the older blonde muttered, and Naruto nodded, still amused.

"Yes, half Uzumaki from my mother's side. She was an Uzumaki through and through, red haired and incredibly quick to blow a fuse. She was...beautiful."

A tender smile crossed Tsunade's lips. "Beautiful, huh? Yes, she must have been."

The iryo-nin leaned in closer, inspecting her patient's features carefully as Naruto silently let her do so. The golden orbs scanned her thoroughly before pausing on Naruto's strangely dual colored hair, part sunshine and part warm fur, and a hint of suspicion fizzed before leaving Tsunade's expression clear.

"Well, that milky tanned skin and rounded jaw is certainly Uzumaki, alright. But your father must be one hell of a beast, I've never seen a half Uzumaki with any less than a head full of red," she proclaimed, and Naruto knew it to be Tsunade's own roundabout way to say yes.

She chuckled anyway, secretly relieved and taken by surprise at the jab at her own father - whose hair was more of summer crops and a savage when it came to protecting anything dear - and Naruto found herself leaning back until her shoulders were pressed against the soft pillows, her hands gripping at her stomach and a thunderous laughter exposing her throat as she threw her head back in mirth.

"Oh, you have no idea."

It took a few more seconds for her chuckles to die down, but it was mostly because her stomach had started to hurt and she didn't need reopened wounds right now. Already her bandages felt a bit soggier than they should be, and even Naruto, with the minimal crash course she'd gotten after she'd been deemed severely lacking in medical knowledge, could tell that it wasn't really a good sign.

"So you're not from Uzushio?"

"No, I was born in a village not far from here."

Tsunade nodded, accepting the simple answer. She figured her mother was probably one of the survivors after Uzushio's destruction. But thinking of the city she'd been to a handful of times when she was more than two decades younger put a smile on the sennin's face, and it's with a much lighter mood that she bid Naruto goodbye.

"It's been a pleasant conversation, Uzumaki-san. But now I have another patient to visit."

"Naruto."

Blinking in slight confusion, Tsunade stared at the other blonde's grin.

"Just call me Naruto, Tsunade-san."

It wasn't long before the she answered the joy in Naruto's gaze with a smile of her own, and turned to head to the door. She offered Naruto another glass of water, which the Uzumaki accepted gracefully, before picking up a stack of papers on the low table and placing her chair back by the windows.

"Then Naruto, please call me Tsunade."

She twisted the doorknob, pushing the door open with a fluid movement before pausing in the doorway, leaning back halfway and looking back at Naruto.

"Oh before I forget, the Hokage wishes to talk. Expect a visit."

And she walked out, the door clicking into place with the shudder of a lock.

Flabbergasted, Naruto froze, hands still in mid-air between her lap and her face, the cup in her grip shaking dangerously. A shiver ran through her bandaged form, clad in a loose hospital grown, and she ordered her quivering arms to deposit the goblet before an accident could happen.

She'd been locked in.

Her, Uzumaki Naruto - and she grimaced at the way her brain already referred to herself as a female - had been locked inside a hospital room.

It hadn't happened in a long time, she mused as she brought her knees to her chest and trapped her legs between her arms over the blanket. No one had ever cared enough to do it, and she'd figured they'd rather have her dead than anything - and Sakura, by the time she had the authority to do so, hadn't had a hospital to work with anymore, not after Pein and Obito, not after Madara. Especially not now, not ever, because Sakura isn't even alive yet.

And as Naruto trembled and huddled closer to the headboard, forehead resting on her knees and eyes desperately shut, she knew that it wasn't what bothered her truly. She knew how to lie, even to herself - had done so since she was conscious of her own actions, because otherwise she'd be no better than Gaara had been - and it hurt more than she'd like to admit, because she was Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto and she was _strong_, damnit, she _should _be, but somehow those words seemed empty even in her own mind.

The truth had sank in the second she'd woken up here, because after years of battle Naruto was anything but slow, and it hadn't troubled her then. But now, after seeing Tsunade whom she knew to be alive in this time but her brain keeps telling her that she should be dead, and the mountain with only three faces when there should be five, and Konoha was bustling even when barely a year ago it had been razed to the ground and even if it was different it still smelled like home like Konoha should and it was _messed up_ and Naruto didn't know what to think.

_She _was messed up, Naruto supposed with a bitter smile, and it was the biggest lie of all, now that it was only Sasuke and her.

Only the two of them, not Sakura, not Sai nor Kakashi or even Yamato but only Sasuke and Naruto, and it felt like a betrayal she couldn't explain.

* * *

-Sasuke-

It hadn't taken long at all, really, to wake up and to detect the presence right beside his bed.

It had only been another second before Sasuke had been ready to jump up and kill whoever dared to sneak up on him during his sleep, because the small, almost untrained chakra tinted with the distinctive green of medic-nins couldn't possibly be Naruto. He had stretched out his senses, straining his already tired chakra pathways, but once it had expanded to a somewhat acceptable radius it had been easy to spot the blinding beacon of sunshine.

It was only the room right across the corridor, but somehow it was as if it would take longer to cross than the entire Elemental Nations in length.

Sasuke mused, his muscles tensing and twitching nervously. He was restless, knowing that his Hokage was less than twenty meters away, not counting the walls separating them. And judging by the few 'hidden' chakra signatures nearby and the not so hidden one in the room, he wasn't going to get anywhere, anytime soon. At least he could still try.

But that had been without counting his inconveniently unresponsive limbs, and so Sasuke had been stuck in this bed for the past hour, feigning sleep and trying to figure out what he was doing in a _hospital_ of all places - because he was sure the last one standing had been all the way in Kiri and abandoned for a good two years - and the person who was in the same room really didn't help.

Out of necessity - and partly boredom - he had done a quick assessment of his body just as he'd been drilled to. It wasn't anything big considering his current near paralyzed state, but his mind itched to do _something_ and it was the most convenient and easy thing that wouldn't blow his cover.

But nothing could have prepared him for the weight pulling him down where it shouldn't have, and even though Sasuke's brain had been fogged and quite dizzy it still registered very, very quickly what had actually happened to his body.

It had taken the last thirty minutes to swallow that huge ball of _what the hell_, but he eventually made it. Well, maybe he was still screaming internally and wincing at every of his brain's attempt to address himself as a member of the opposite - and wrong - gender, but it was hardly anything to fret upon now that he wasn't going to murder the closest living creature within his reach. Because unlike Naruto Sasuke had known time travel _had_ to have some kind of consequences, and if it was a gender swap then she'd accept it gratefully if it meant the world wouldn't be imploding on itself anytime soon.

He cringed again at the slip, but figured that she would eventually get used to the change.

It was just weird to have his mind thinking as a male and his body - and brain - on the other side of the spectrum, so for now he'll ignore it and let it happen. She wasn't nearly energetic enough to debate such things.

Figuring out what to do next had been a tad bit trickier though, and it gave him a headache just to think about it - Sasuke suspected it had something to do with his current immobile state and the dull pounding at the back of his head - until she remembered exactly what happened the last time she'd been awake.

And then it's been incredulity and anger and worry all mixed into one, thickening into her throat until she had to swallow in down in fear of it spilling out. She was in _Konoha_, and somewhere deep in her she itched to scream and to tear apart the village that had ruined all of her, to yell and to demand redemption for all that Konoha had taken away from her, for Itachi and Naruto and Sakura, and maybe even Kakashi, because if it wasn't for this blasted village they'd all still be alive and smiling.

But the biggest part of her worried for her Hokage, for Naruto who hours before - or days, but she didn't dare think of such a time - was bleeding out and still dying even in the past, and she was irritated at herself who couldn't do anything but watch, to defend even as she was pathetically weak.

_'Weak,' _his mind added, _'Pathetically weak, and you dare call yourself his protector?'_

Sasuke gritted her teeth at the reminder of how a single tap to the neck had taken her out, how she hadn't been able to even detect the movement, and she clawed at the sheets as discreetly as possible when she wanted - needed - to get up but her body just _wouldn't listen._

"Ah! You're awake?"

The voice startled Sasuke and he almost raised his arm to choke whoever it was, but as she was she couldn't do anything but twitch, irritated.

By the feel of the chakra and the high pitch of her voice, the person was a young girl - perhaps around ten years old - with minimal medical training. There was the sound of clothes rustling right by his head, joined by a chair scraping the floor - Kami, hasn't anyone told the girl how dangerous it was to act like that around wounded shinobi?

Suddenly there was a warm hand on her forehead, and Sasuke wrestled down the urge to frown at the foolishly indiscreet act.

"You don't seem to have a fever. Want some water?"

Irritation chew at her tongue, almost lashing out if not for the iron grip Sasuke had over her own movements.

"Hey, can you hear me?"

Having enough of the chit-chat, Sasuke groaned before prying her eyes open. The first thing to meet her gaze was a thin arm, attached to slender frame and a rounded face, dark chocolate hair framing wide eyes and purple markings on each cheek.

"Aha! You _are_ awake!"

But Sasuke stared, silently gaping, because the only girl she knew to have rectangle tattoos and a cheeky smile was dead for nearly twenty years, and this girl can't be - shouldn't be - Kami, Sasuke prayed, because if this really was the Academy student version of Nohara Rin then fate must really hate her.

Suddenly she was really thankful for the closed curtains, because otherwise she wouldn't know how to hide the bloody red tint her eyes must have right now, halfway between Sharingan and Mangekyo and only held back by sheer will.

Sasuke knew that she probably shouldn't be getting so angry over someone's face, but she'd always been prone to hatred, to blaming others and this was no different even if she knew it was horribly wrong. This wasn't Itachi, not the clan elders who attempted a coup d'état nor Danzo who had ruined and broken Itachi and herself in the most horrid ways. Rin hadn't committed any crimes, not now in the past and never in Sasuke's future, but she had been the reason of Obito's insanity and Kakashi's mourning, and in Sasuke's eyes it was enough.

It shouldn't be Rin's fault that Obito had loved her, it shouldn't be Rin's fault to have been sealed with the Sanbi, it shouldn't be Rin's fault to have decided to commit suicide by Kakashi's hand, it shouldn't be - but it _is_, because she had gone and _died_ and messed up Kakashi and Obito and the entire world in that same decision, and Sasuke couldn't help but to abhor the little girl who was cowering before her burning gaze.

It was an injustice Sasuke knew all too well, to be blamed and to blame, and it was Itachi and Sasuke and that horrible night reeking of the Uchihas' blood all over again.

Thankfully the raven pulled her attention back to Naruto's chakra, her stare redirected at the offending door, and a little sigh of relief escaped Rin. Sasuke stubbornly kept her eyes away, refusing to look at the other occupant of the room, and that seemed to have given the younger girl enough courage to speak up again.

"Hmm, water...?"

Sasuke huffed, almost denying the urge to accept, but her parched throat was threatening to burn a hole through her neck and her body was sore enough as it is. She reluctantly nodded - at least the surge of emotions have given her back some mobility - and a full glass of water was unceremoniously shoved into her face, half of the liquid spilling over on her blanket. The raven blinked, then scowled.

"You know, I thought I was supposed to drink and not _bathe_."

She caught a furious blush out of the corner of her eyes before Rin scrambled to get her a pillow, lifting her awkwardly with her frail arms before dropping her back onto the bed. She had at least caught on Sasuke's predicament soon enough to slide an arm behind the Uchiha's neck and propping her head up, pressing the goblet to her lips and tilting the glass to make the movement easier.

It was as undignified as it could get for Sasuke, but she choked back the snappy comment in favor of gulping down the liquid to soothe her throat.

When she was done the younger girl didn't waste a second to pull back, all but slamming her down into the pillow and crushing the glass in her grip. For a moment Sasuke thought the ringing in her ears may just make her head explode, black spots dancing before her eyes for a minute until her vision refocused. She groaned, painfully rolling onto her side and gripping her hair, keeping her head between her arms and under the blanket, willing the headache away.

"Ah-! Sorry I didn't mean to do that! Are you alright?" The distressed call just made it worse, the tone too high-pitched for Sasuke's liking, and she buried herself further into the sheets with a frown.

"Umm... What should I do? Do you need pills? Ah, there should be some here-"

"Would you just _shut up_?" Sasuke hissed, not unlike a wounded feline, and the room fell silent.

"Oh, umm... sorry." This time the volume was noticeably turned down, and she heard Rin sit back dejectedly on her chair.

The silence stretched on for several minutes before Sasuke, feeling bad for being unreasonable - not that she'd ever admit it - peeked out from under the covers, black eyes inspecting the small girl sitting before her.

Rin was staring at the floor, hands clenched and brow furrowed, and Sasuke could see and smell the faint trail of tears on her marked cheeks. She didn't regret snapping at the girl, because Rin deserved it for being so reckless around a seasoned, weary shinobi, but somehow the reaction reminded Sasuke of another girl, barely three years older and hopelessly infatuated with her - when she'd still been male - and suddenly Sasuke thought of hot pink cropped short and cherry blossoms, of gentle hands and a dauntless temper, emerald eyes and a rare smile - and Sasuke's reaching out despite the ache in her entire body, bandaged fingers curled and softly pressing on warm skin.

Sasuke wiped away the small tear gathering at the corner of a brown eye widened in surprise, and pulled back just as quickly, an unknown emotion swimming in her chest and constricting her lungs.

She refused to offer an explanation and the confused inquiry in the brunette's gaze, instead turning away with a frown and trying to go back to sleep.

The room fell silent again, less uncomfortable and more relaxing than it was awkward, enough for Sasuke's mind to settle down and for her muscles to uncoil with the tiniest surge of lightning chakra.

It proved to be harder than usual with her chakra coils recently burnt out and only beginning to replenish, her chakra levels fluctuating like crazy and mostly preoccupied with keeping the steady rhythm of her heartbeat, but the result was well worth the exhausting effort.

Almost instantly relief coursed through Sasuke's body. The burning sensation on her skin was gone, replaced with the freshness left by small crackles that danced for all but a second, and the scorching pain of her wounds as well as the whizzing she could barely hide were now back to a somewhat manageable level. The ANBU outside the window flared his chakra, enough to tickle Sasuke's senses, but it dropped down again after seeing that there were no threat.

Sasuke blew into the pillow, pressing her cheek against the soft material, and was grateful for the almost luxurious comfort. Performing that thing out in the wild was much more uncomfortable - while handy, the small lightning output has a tendency to create electricity, nothing big but enough to make just about everything stick to her.

It was a trick passed down to her because her hands had burnt and her palms sizzled with the leftovers of Chidori, after all of her arms had felt numb and boneless on the rocky ground, for who else than Kakashi would wait until the worse of her suffering had passed to tell her the miracle solution?

And of course, since Sasuke had never been known for her luck - very much unlike Naruto - it would just happen that Rin had been the calm before the storm, because the almost silent footfall and the chakra probing and poking at her own was undeniably familiar.

A quick rap at the door and three more seconds was all the time Sasuke had to brace herself for the oncoming headache.

The chair made another abysmal sound as Rin jumped up from her seat, and the raven didn't need to turn around to know that the brunette's face was flushed crimson and her arms rigid beside her body.

The Academy student's surprised cry only confirmed Sasuke's budding suspicions, for all the names and titles that existed in the Elemental Nations it just _had_ to be his.

"Hokage-sama!"

* * *

-Third Hokage

Sarutobi Hiruzen. God of Shinobi and current Hokage, born during the First Shinobi War and nominated during the Second.

He was known for many things, both good and bad, and for the same reason the amount of nicknames he had earned stretched well beyond a few decades. Hiruzen was feared and loved, a duality that wasn't uncommon in the shinobi world, but for all that he was Hokage Hiruzen isn't a patient man.

Collected and calm, perhaps, and insanely powerful even if he had outlived by many years the usual shinobi lifespan, but he'd always been missing a few levels in the short meter he called forbearance. It showed in his intolerance to paperwork, his hastily made schedule, and his habit of doing things a bit too promptly.

That was exactly why he was currently pacing in the hospital lobby, hands clasped behind his back and frustration etched on his features. It was an unusual sight, for one he was rarely seen anywhere outside his office, and second the slim yet potent killing intent he was radiating was as far from the usual grandfatherly figure as it could ever be. Oh, but he wasn't feeling murderous. Not at all: rather, it was a complicated mix of resignation, a sense of obligation, dread and strangely enough, excitation.

_'There's no denying it now'_, the Hokage thought. His boredom has finally led him to relinquishing his duties - paperwork, to be exact - and here he was, terrorizing the entire hospital staff in attempts to calm down and vent his, well, whatever he was feeling.

The nurse at the reception looked positively terrified, Hiruzen noted. While it wasn't anything to be smug about, it was still satisfying to see that he hadn't lost his edge, chakra-wise, that is.

He walked around the hall twice before finally glancing at the clock, and barely held back a groan.

Four thirty-five in the afternoon.

Twenty minutes since he'd stormed into the hospital and another five before the time Tsunade had told him to come.

He paced some more - no, as Hokage he did _not _fidget - and was somewhat aware of someone nervously offering him a seat, somewhere between his internal set of curses and the rhythmic tapping of the pen in a nurse's hand.

Kami, but five minutes had never felt so strenuous before.

The sound of heels clacking on the tiled floor had never sounded as good as it did, and it was with barely hidden eagerness that Hiruzen turned to face his student.

They stared at each other for a few tense seconds, neither willing to speak first. Finally Hiruzen breached the silence. "Tsunade."

"Sensei. Early, I see. I felt your chakra all the way to the third wing," she answered humorlessly, a frown in place but something dancing in her eyes, and Hiruzen frowned at the strange display of conflicting emotions, similar to his own.

"Ahh, I supposed you would. I take it they...?" He trailed off, somewhat surprised at his own forwardness. What was he doing, already revealing his inner thoughts? This isn't like him, who usually beats around the bush a bit too much for anyone's liking. Really, he was only impatient in the safety of his own home, and so this unplanned slip was something he could frown upon.

However it seemed like Tsunade didn't notice, to his relief, as she was too engrossed in her own thoughts, a faraway look in her eyes.

"Tsunade," he called, and the woman jumped, as if surprised. The Hokage sighed indulgently, somewhat worried at what could trouble her so.

"Oh, yes, yes, the report." She stated, before turning around and leading her sensei down a hallway with a wave of her hand.

"This way."

Tsunade waited until they arrived into another hospital wing, reserved for high-surveillance patients, before speaking when it was only the both of them and the ANBU stationed outside the window.

"Both patients are recuperating wonderfully. It will take an approximate month for a full recovery, but I don't doubt they'll be fine by half that time."

Hiruzen arched an eyebrow, disbelieving but knowing better than to question her judgment. "Two weeks, then? That's rather quick."

He was met with silence, and it was unnerving. It couldn't be anything good, coming from Tsunade. The woman was much more focused even on a bad day than she was right now, and she had seen too much to be disturbed by anything, really. Being head medic of a hospital in a shinobi village and fighting on the frontlines during the Second Shinobi War had taken its toll on her, what with Dan and Nawaki, but Tsunade was too strong to let it get to her even if it came close, too close sometimes. Until now, it seems, for the kink in her pose and the slight shudder of her shoulders sent Hiruzen a message that he was too familiar with to break her out of it.

"Sensei..." Tsunade stopped again, before sucking in a big breath and pausing in the middle of the corridor.

"You know the blonde one?"

The Sandaime blinked before nodding, the image of a blood-soaked girl with Hachidori hovering over her popping up in his mind. She had been hardly blonde when he had seen her the first time, but perhaps it was more due to the mud and the blood caking her hair than natural colors.

"She..." her voice trembled, dry with emotions, and Hiruzen braced himself for the worse. His mind supplied him with the word 'dead', but he smacked the thought away, too confident in Tsunade's skills to begin doubting her.

"She's from the Uzumaki."

It was barely above a whisper but Hiruzen caught it, and was suddenly pulled back by an unknown force hitting him square in the chest.

It couldn't be.

Not now, not again, not so soon.

Not only ten years after Uzushio's fall, half a decade after Kushina and barely three years after Mito's passing.

An Uzumaki.

It was incredible, impossible, but something in Tsunade's eyes, in her determined stance, the hint of a dimple and the lift of an eyebrow convinced him more than words ever could.

And it clicked.

The chakra levels, the injuries, the whisker marks, the dark-haired kunoichi's protectiveness.

An unknown Uzumaki, with hair as bright as the sun and three possession marks on each cheek, a guardian of the same age and eyes that turn the darkest of reds - and Hiruzen clawed at his chest, almost as if he couldn't breathe, as if the world has turned upside down and everything changed, for the better or the worse.

He felt a cool, hard surface against his arm, and only then he realized he had staggered until his entire fame leaned wearily against the wall.

"Sensei?" A voice called him, and it took him a while to identify it as Tsunade's.

hospital. Tsunade.

Uzumaki. Uchiha.

"Sensei! Calm down. You need to breathe. In and out. Slowly," the medic-nin ordered, voice stern with an undertone of concern, and a small part of Hiruzen scoffed at the childish treatment.

Still, he gritted his teeth and forced air into his lungs as evenly as possible, careful not to gulp in too much to avoid overloading his system. It took him a few more seconds to compose himself before he dared to speak, not used to hyperventilation anymore after years of pernickety calculations and Hokage duties.

"Tsunade," he began, voice still trembling under the strain, "Is any of them awake yet?"

The blonde woman eyed him anxiously. "I don't know about the black haired one, but I've talked to the blonde, Uzumaki Naruto. For the other -"

A flare of chakra cut her off, the smallest of lightning with a hint of midnight leaves freshly burnt, and Tsunade sighed.

"Awake too, it seems."

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded grimly.

"Her first, then. I'll get to Uzumaki after that."

The head medic acknowledged his decision, before handing the older man a set of keys.

"I'll be off then, sensei."

She walked away, feet slightly unsteady to the Hokage's trained eyes.

He called out just before she rounded the corner, "Oh, Tsunade? Prepare a room. We're soon going to be welcoming back a cranky jinchurikki."

* * *

The key slid in easily, breaking the heavy silence that followed the three rapid knocks on the wooden frame.

A creak and the door opened, drawing out the scraping of the metal-covered corners on the tiled floor.

Sasuke met an inquisitive gaze with a determined stare.

The white robes of the man were strangely out of place in the hospital, which preferred light and tight uniforms for easier movements. The foliage of barely graying hair under the imposing hat was somewhat of a shock, if not for the wizened, sagacious look the brown eyes bore, sharp and commanding veiled by a screen of doubt.

Sasuke knew she was waist deep in trouble.

Sarutobi slid his gaze to the trembling girl beside Sasuke's bed, and suddenly his features stretched into a kind smile. "Ah, Nohara-san. How is training treating you?"

"Won-wonderful, Hokage-sama!"

Sasuke watched with unease as the man stepped inside, an easy expression in place. "Working hard, I see."

The brunette straightened even more, if that was possible, and gasped out, "Hai, Ho-Hokage-sama! I do my best!"

She was answered with an odd but fond gaze. "I'm glad to hear it. Though I hope it wouldn't be too much trouble for you to go help at the reception? They are quite busy when I arrived," the man asked, not even bothering to cover up more his command, and Rin quickly executed a clumsy bow before hurrying toward the entrance.

"As you wish, Hokage-sama. Have a good day!" She all but bolted outside. The sound of her footsteps in the corridor grew quieter by the second, until all was left was the chirping of a few late birds and the rustling of the sheets as Sasuke shifted. At least Rin had the presence of mind to shut the door behind her.

The Hokage seemed at first to let his attention catch on every surfaces, glancing at the walls, the few paintings and the jug of water on the desk, the dust forming intricate patterns on the windowsill under the gentle push of a summer wind. At last his eyes landed on her again, and by then Sasuke was ready.

"Sandaime-dono, I presume?" she asked, and the older man's eyebrow lifted at the unusual title for one of his rank.

"It isn't hard to guess, what with that girl's reactions. Please, have a seat." Sasuke gestured toward the empty chair that Rin had dragged a few feet from the bed, and the shuffling of clothes were the only sound in the room until the Hokage was comfortably settled.

"Then I will skip the formal introduction. However, while you are quite aware of my title, I still have no information on your identity, kunoichi-san. You also appear to have little consideration to your situation, if I so believe."

"I have my reasons." The plain answer and the emotionless expression on her face puzzled Hiruzen, but he kept his face neutral.

"I fear you'll have to be more precise than that, kunoichi-san. It is no small matter for an unknown shinobi of your caliber to suddenly appear in our territory, and until you can prove otherwise we have to assume you to be the enemy. I'm sure you can understand?"

It wasn't much of a question than a statement, so Sasuke didn't bother agreeing. She didn't have much choices anyway: as it is she had almost no chances of escape - not if she wanted to lay low - and her priority at the moment is to keep Naruto safe. If she can gain a powerful ally in the process, than she wasn't going to work against that.

Konoha can go to hell for all Sasuke cared. However, as much as Sasuke despised the Leaf it was Naruto's pride, Naruto's precious village, and in return Naruto was Sasuke's home; so keeping Konoha at the top of her priorities meant a happy Naruto, and that was all Sasuke will ask for.

A small voice whispered that even if it wasn't as important Konoha was also Itachi's, and for those two reasons she will throw her life away in a heartbeat for the village.

Sasuke was also far from stupid, less prone to impulsive decisions than Naruto no matter how the blonde has calmed down since their younger years, and so the raven understood very well how valuable having the current Hokage on their side was. Because knowing her Hokage - Naruto, since the blonde was _Sasuke's_ Hokage - they were not just going to sit back and wait for the inevitable to unfold, and having the Sandaime means having Konoha behind their backs.

Beside, Sasuke reasoned, the Leaf will also serve well to keep Naruto sane and kicking.

The raven shifted, making herself comfortable for the upcoming and much dreaded monologue. "Very well, Hokage-dono."

"You will have to excuse me for withholding some information, but I'll give you what I can." Her smirk chilled Hiruzen to his bones.

The azure barrier of a silencing seal that rose with a wave of his hand startled her, but the serious glint in the man's eye silenced her.

"Then let's start, Uchiha-san."

Well, looks like she's neck deep in troubles now.

* * *

-Naruto-

_"Naruto-nii!"_

_He spun around, a grin already in place. "Konohamaru!"_

_The younger boy - man, now, fifteen with the same smile of six years ago - ran toward the blond, his ever-present teammates following closely behind._

_"Naruto-nii! Look at what I found!"_

_The title of 'boss' had been dropped when they had graduated from the Academy, but the meaning and the affection hadn't been lost at all. __Naruto braced himself for the flying tackle-hug he received from three bundles of joy, and their growing frames almost sent him crashing to the ground._

_"Woah! There, there, excited aren't we?" He asked, laughter bubbling inside his throat. But he frowned internally. Something was... wrong. Out of place._

_"We found this super cool katana on a guy from Oto!" Moegi said, her arms wrapped protectively around the weapon._

_Udon sneezed. "We got it after we defeated him!"_

_"It was super cool! Moegi got him with one of her senbon and Udon had those chakra string thingy! And then, I, the hero, jumped from the tree and kicked him right in the forehead! And the guy went down like this! Paf!" Konohamaru mimicked the movement of a body hitting the floor with his hands, arms flailing wildly._

_Naruto chuckled and ruffled his hair. "A congratulation is in order then, Kono-kun, Moegi-chan, Udon-kun. But before let's put your report in Tsunade-baa-chan's office, ne? Then I'll treat you all to Ichiraku for a successful B-rank."_

_The entire team cheered, throwing their arms in the air, and Konohamaru ran forward whil Moegi and Udon grabbed each of his arms._

_"Eh? Guys, what are you-?"_

_"Naruto-nii! You're coming with us!"_

_"Wha- hey! I have things to do!"_

_"Nuh-uh! You're coming, that's final!"_

_"Pretty please?"_

_Suddenly he was faced with three pairs of wide, glistening puppy eyes, and Moegi managed to even make her lower lip tremble with the slightest of emotions. And as he always did he caved in._

_"Urgh, fine. But we're going to we real quick, got it?"_

_They answered with a chorus of 'hai', but Naruto knew that he was going to be dragged around until sunset. They marched forward, Konohamaru yelling at them to be faster._

_Udon tugged on his sleeve._

_"Yes, Udon-kun?"_

_"Naruto-nii, could you teach us to use the katana?"_

_Naruto pondered a few seconds, but could't see much harm in doing so. "Well, I'm pretty busy, but I'll see what I can do. I have to see what kind of blade it is though, I don't work very well with long katana or chokuto."_

_Moegi halted in her steps. Naruto looked down, only to have the carefully wrapped weapon thrust into his face._

_"Here!"_

_He smiled at her and muttered a 'thank you' before picking up the sword and resuming their slow walk. He unraveled the cloth around the handle and pulled, and the blade slid out of its sheath easily without a sound._

_Naruto whistled, impressed._

_"A beautiful tanto you have there, Moegi-chan. The blade is sharp and well-cared for, and the metal is chakra conductive. The design is simple, but the balance is perfect. Comfortable grip too, but you'll have to see with your own balance. I'd say it's one of the best you can get for a starter sword, but for training I suggest using a wooden one. No use dulling the blade yet," he commented, and the duo clinging to his sides stared at the tanto, visibly fascinated. Even Konohamaru had slowed down to listen to their conversation._

_Naruto slid the blade back into place and secured it with its bindings, before handing it back to Moegi. They walked a few more minutes in a comfortable silence._

_"Naruto-nii, do you think it cuts well?"_

_The blond blinked in confusion before looking down - they didn't quite reach his eye-level yet, though it wouldn't be long. Naruto wasn't exactly the tallest of their age group, and the trio still had some growing to do._

_"Uh, well, the blade is quite sharp so yeah. Why the sudden question?" He tried to look into Udon's eyes, but the brunet stubbornly kept his head down._

_He felt a tug at his other sleeve, so he turned to Moegi. She didn't speak._

_Suddenly he realized that they had stopped walking all together - Konohamaru too had halted, hands still clasped behind his head - and the streets were strangely vacant for a summer afternoon._

_"Moegi-chan? Udon-kun? Kono-kun? What's wrong?"_

_"Naruto-nii, what did it feel like?" the orange haired girl finally spoke._

_Udon added to her question, "Did it feel good?"_

_Naruto was feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the heavy mood. "Hm, guys? What is going on? This isn't funny."_

_Moegi held his arm in a vice-like grip, sending shivers of growing alarm down Naruto's spine. "What's going on?"_

_Udon finally craned his neck to gaze into Naruto's eyes, and the Uzumaki barely held back a scream at the empty sockets oozing thick, black liquid, dripping and sliding down a strangely pale neck._

_"The sword, of course. The slashing and the killing - the blood drenching you like a fountain - how did it feel?"_

_"Wha-"_

_Moegi cut him off. "I bet it felt really good, right, Naruto-nii? You held it in your hands after all, when you killed us."_

_The blond was about to answer with a vehement denial, and he jerked back only to find his feet glued to the ground. He looked around, desperate for an explanation, but all he found was emptiness and a Konoha that shouldn't be this quiet, this red - oh Kami, was this - was this blood dripping from the rooftops?_

_"Naruto-nii," Moegi purred, "Look at me."_

_Strangely Naruto found himself unable to refuse, like detached from his own body, and it was with clenched teeth and widened eyes that he took in the deep gash running from the right corner of the girl's mouth to the beginning of her leg, almost bisecting her diagonally._

_The wound was still bleeding, soaking the girl and his arm in her blood, and Naruto screamed for her to let go as he struggled in vain._

_"Are you afraid? You shouldn't be. You did all this after all."_

_And a red haze fell as the air glowed an eerie crimson, the summer sun fading into a waxing moon. His senses were assaulted with the stench of blood and decay, and a wetness at his feet made him look down - to witness the puddle of blood he stood in._

_"No, no, no, what is this it isn't real stop stop stop-"_

_But he couldn't deny the wakizashi in his left hand, the black and blue hilt and the Uzumaki swirl painted a dirty red, Hakuhio and the hum of power it radiated in his palm._

_Couldn't deny the mangled arm hanging at his side and attached to Udon's crushed body, half bloody and skinned, revealing his bare muscles and his innards hanging from the sword gash crossing his stomach, couldn't deny Konohamaru's form at his feet and the fresh, warm liquid on his face, and the stretch of his lips as he howled and cried and yelled and gripped at his hair in despair._

_Naruto let his eyes wander in crazed frenzy until his gaze landed on the glass window of a shop, and he trembled and cried because all he could see was redredred and so much blood and a single, dark form with hair of summer crops and warm fur dyed the color of death._

_Naruto stared back, tears dripping down his chin._

_"Naru-kun..."_

_Oh no. It couldn't be - oh no, no, no, nononono not her - and a pale and fragile hand tugged at his pants and he could see her in the window's reflection._

_Lavender and so sweet so cold and empty sockets where there should be a gentle gaze, and he looked down and - Kami forgive me - because Hakuhio's glistening blade was right through her forehead._

_A broken sob escaped Naruto's lips._

_"Hi-Hinata?"_

_She smiled at him cruelly, and he felt something tear at him and scream in his ears._

_"Naruto-kun..." She grinned. "Is it fun?"_

_And then it was only white noise and a kind of buzzing and it went empty because when he looked again, the streets were clean once more._

_No Konohamaru, no Moegi, no Udon, no Hinata._

_But there was Konoha with her bustling streets and Hakuhio and Yomi in his hands and himself staring from the glass of the window._

_And Kami, he was red-eyed and whisker marks thick and carved into his skin, hair highlighted by strands of Kyubi red and eyes narrowed in satisfaction._

_An insane glint in his eyes, a soft whisper at his ears - go ahead, it said, enjoy - and he felt his face stretch, canines digging into his lower lip and he was smiling._

_"Yes, Moegi-chan. It cuts very well."_

_And there were hands around his arms in a vice-like grip, a question in his mind and voices - Kami so many voices-_

**_"NARUTO!"_**

He stumbled. There was a wetness on his cheeks and dripping on his hands and a kind of numbing dampness and the smell of warm fur under the sun.

He choked back a sob.

_'Ku-Kurama?'_

**_"Yes, kit. It's me."_**

He buried his face into the warmth pressing against his skin, desperately, clinging to it with clenched teeth and eyes squeezed shut.

_'Kurama, what...?'_

**_"Shhh, kit, shhh. It's ok. It wasn't real. It was a dream."_**

It was like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over his head, and he sniffed as he trembled, nails catching on cold, sweaty palms.

_'A dream?'_

**_"Yes kit, a dream. Nothing more."_**

_'But, but, Moegi? And Konohamaru? Udon? What happened? Konoha, so red, and, and, Hi-Hina - oh Kyuu -'_

**_"Shhh, kit, it's ok. Konoha is still here. The kids are fine."_**

Something pressed against him, murmuring into his ear, and he leaned into the temptation. Carefully, he took away the blankness over his senses, letting the smells and the sounds come back to him once more.

**_"See? Everything's fine."_**

And he heard bells chiming - a soft laughter - and smelled fresh air and leaves, the sweetness of candies and the bitterness of medicinal herbs, the breeze passing by and the distant calls of children.

_'Is this all...?'_

**_"This, no. Not a dream. This is real." _**A familiar weight curled around Naruto's shivering frame, soft hairs brushing his skin. _**"This is very much real. But that, that... vision. That was a dream. Not real. Never real."**_

_"It never happened?"_

**_"Never. Promise." _**Something humid and wet pushed at his chest - Kyubi's muzzle - and whiskers tickled his sides. But Naruto was too cold to care, even as heat spread from the tails around him into his limbs.

_'Ok. A dream. Only a dream.' _A deep breath, and the smell of amusement and concern and fire drifted to his senses, a calming balm to his screaming mind.

They stayed like that for a while - how long, Naruto didn't know or care - until he blinked, then groaned and wished he never had to resurface _ever_ again.

_'Thanks, Kyuu,' _he breathed, an embarrassed flush heating his face.

A deep rumble echoed against him, and the muscles under his head quivered, indicating Kyubi's laughter.

_**"No need, kit. Now get out, the monkey's calling you."**_

He barely had time to yelp before the floor under his feet gave way to emptiness, like a void sucking him in and it made his head turn and his stomach drop. A flash of colors and _she_ was gripping _her_ hair and muttering curses under her breath, her skull throbbing and heart pounding at the unexpected leave.

"Urgh, bastard just had to _toss_ me out..."

"Maa, I don't think I've done any tossing for you to curse me to hell and back, Uzumaki-san." A voice devoid of any humor answered, and Naruto flinched at the proximity before locking up her muscles in an attempt to not turn around and jump the three meters between them and kick with her less bandaged leg and send the intruder out the window on her left, already open with an angle of thirty-six degrees to the West facing -

Something warm and slender poked at her, not quite touching but familiar as it tangled with her chakra, all green leaves and hazelnut mixed with a hint of fireflies, and the tension bled out until she was wary but awake enough to not be as hostile. She realized it was the other's chakra mingling with her own, coaxing her to relax.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

The low tone was too familiar to be possible, and curiosity seized her mind, scratching and pulling until she gave up and lifted her head from her knees, prying her eyes open just for the slightest glance and -

Oh.

_Oh._

She swallowed dryly, feeling like she had just messed up immensely. "...Sandaime-sama."

The man offered her an unimpressed look before coming closer to stand and the end of her bed.

"Well informed, I see. I won't however say nice to meet you, Uzumaki-san."

How true, Naruto thought. It wasn't nice at all, to have him there yet not the same, looking at her as if seeing a stranger - which she is in his eyes - and it tugged at her heart when she remembered how the Hokage - her Hokage-jiji - used to hug her indecisively but protective all the same. How his broad and tired shoulders would weight heavily on her smelling of his pipe, how all that would - had - broken her out of her daze and her childish, curled form when the villagers got especially bad.

But she still couldn't stop the remorseful grin from spreading, and it was with too much bite that she answered, "The pleasure's all mine, Hokage-sama."

She didn't know who was more surprised, the Sandaime at her tone or herself for the small pool of anger in her stomach - because the man had gone and died, damnit, died and hadn't even given a proper goodbye - so she cleared her throat, wishing the awkward atmosphere away.

The Hokage hat tipped under Sarutobi's fingers as he readjusted it in a fidgety manner, not that anyone would know seeing his collected behavior.

''Uzumaki-san, I won't be beating around the bush. Your presence is...disconcerting, and I believe you and I both know the consequences of going on too long without proper answers."

Naruto nodded hesitantly, vaguely concerned about the man's resigned tone. She hid a grimace when a shard of glass dug into her palm, having long identified the wetness on her lower half as the water contained in her previously half filled and very much unbroken cup.

"I'll be asking directly. Who are you and why are you here?"

The blonde blinked owlishly, not believing her ears.

_'That's... rather sudden.'_

She felt Kurama snort at the back of her mind.

_**'That's an understatement to the obvious, kit.'**_

_'Well I don't see you giving me an answer without blowing this up spectacularly, so help me or just shut up and let me think already!'_

The giant fox gave her a mental slap on the head, which she replied with a petulant pout.

_**'I don't see what's the problem. You just have to spill everything to the monkey.'**_

_'Yeah right. I'll just go and tell him that I'm the Kyubi's jinchurikki who also happens to be the child of the not-yet-Yondaime and of the current jinchurikki? That I came from a past where the five Nations allied to face a not-so-dead Madara and a not-so-crushed Obito who wanted to dominate the world and make it a better place by projecting the Sharingan on the moon and enslaving the entire world to an illusion? That I somehow died but didn't and met Amaterasu - a goddess, may I add - and somehow traveled to the past disregarding every law of the universe since, like, ever?'_

**_'The man had to put up with a hyperactive, malnourished, ill-mannered, street-rat and probably insane five years old version of you. I think that deserves some merit,' _**The vixen reasoned.

_'And get thrown into a cell with ANBU around every corners for insanity and breaching the security system as well as infiltrating 'enemy' territory? I don't think so!' _Naruto yelled, almost tearing her hair out in frustration. Now that her hair was longer - way longer - she found herself wincing just a bit more when she pulled on them. At least she doesn't have to deal with her own claws sinking into her skull anymore.

Kurama grumbled tiredly.** _'He's_**_** smart. Beside, I think it's worth it. If he's on your side than our job just got a lot easier.'**_

_'If he isn't?'_

**_'Then I think you and the Uchiha brat had spent too much time running away to be caught now. He'll soon be too busy with the war anyway.'_**

Naruto... well, Naruto didn't have an argument to counter that. She sat silently for a few minutes, well aware of the gaze piercing right through her side, before she came to accept Kurama's suggestion with a frown.

She untangled herself from the wet blanket and straightened her legs, popping herself upright with the pillow nudged between her back and the headboard.

_'Might as well give it a try.' _She ignored the feeling of the nine tails grinning.

"Hokage-sama, what I am going to reveal is a secret that will be detrimental to the fate of the world should it come to light. Can you swear to not tell anyone on Inari-sama's name?"

Naruto was pleasantly surprised, if not a bit wary, at the way the Sandaime seemed to ponder for only a few seconds before motioning to his ANBU with signs she easily recognized.

_Don't attack. Safe. Wait for orders._

The decision had been made too hastily, if she judged by the way she had known the man to act back in her youth. It was as if he already knew something he shouldn't, and it worried her.

Hiruzen inhaled deeply before stating, "I, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, pledge on O-Inari-sama's name."

Well, if he was so sure of his decisions, then she wouldn't hesitate any further.

She channeled chakra to her left hand, vaguely feeling the protest of her coils as she strained them while they were still recovering, but it was well worth the unbelieving expression on the Hokage's face.

The silver tattoo faded in and out as the colors began to distinguish themselves from her skin, saturating and darkening until it was all silver strokes and elegant swirls intertwined with the heavy chakra of the burden the seal carried.

Foregoing all caution, Hiruzen stepped forward and grabbed her forearm almost harshly as he leaned in closer to study the careful artwork. Naruto let him, managing to keep down her instincts to jerk away.

"You. How can you have this?" Sarutobi inquired, a bit breathless but taking it better than she had hoped for, and Naruto smiled wistfully, internally relieved.

She performed a few hand signs with her free hand, noting with hidden glee at the widened eyes staring at her shaky movements.

_Leave. Confidential. For Hokage only._

"Wha-"

"Hokage-sama. It's for no one, not even your ANBU." The man seemed hesitant to comply, so Naruto sighed and decided that it couldn't do much harm to reveal a bit more of her knowledge.

_"Si vis pacem, para bellum."_

Suddenly the Hokage tensed, and the ANBU hidden on the ceiling shifted and was about to leap out of his cover when Sarutobi motioned for him to stay put. The Sandaime looked at Naruto with something akin to wonder in his eyes before turning back and making hand signs of his own.

_Leave._

His guards were undecided at first, but caved in under Hiruzen's insisting gaze. All it took were three brief flashes of chakra, compressed and suppressed to unimaginable levels, and the chakra signatures were gone.

Naruto stiffened at the lifted eyebrow directed at her.

"Okay now?"

**_'It's now or never, kit.'_**

Not needing more prompts, she sucked in a gulp of air - that smelled sweet and sterile with the lingering scent of leaves - and tried unsuccessfully to calm down her pounding heart.

"Yes, thank you. Now, as you already know from Tsunade-hime, my name is Uzumaki Naruto. I'm sure you are already aware of my background story. However, I would like to rectify a few details. Before I came here, my name was Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, heir of the Uzumaki and Namikaze clan. And I have this seal because, well... I am, or was, the Rokudaime Hokage."

* * *

**Si vis pacem, para bellum: a latin quote meaning 'If you want peace, prepare for war'.**

**It's meant as a hint to Sarutobi for what's about to come.**


	6. Chapter 6, meeting the old monkey

**Chapter 6: Meeting the monkey**

**I don't own Naruto, only the FEW Ocs. ****I'm NOT Masashi Kishimoto!**

* * *

The pain and the sadness that you encounter when you lose something important is only a mix of one emotion: guilt. When you feel it once, you learn from it. When you live it twice, you mourn in silence. But if you experience it thrice, you will break, shattering like a frail piece of glass. But if you manage to survive, then you will only be a shadow of your soul: a broken doll. Because we are nothing more than mere puppets of Destiny, holding tightly on the string that keeps us from being consumed by the darkness. The string that will eventually lead humankind to its pinnacle.

A simple red string named Hope.

* * *

_In the darkness of the night, a young child was ru__nning. He was tired, and wanted to stop. What did he do to deserve this? His __cerulean eyes were once filled with life and happiness; now, they were empty, dull, lifeless. The two blue pools are now a storming grey, like the sky on a rainy day. His 5 years old body is already bruised, and he was hurting everywhere. It was a miracle that he was still able to run. The boy turned in a small alley, hoping to lose his pursuers. He was sadly mistaken: his eyes met a wall. A dead end. He curled in a corner, protecting his head with his arms. The mob is approaching. The sound of footsteps made its way to his ears, making a shiver run down his spin. He was roughly thrown on the ground, reopening his wounds. He wanted to cry out for help; he didn't, knowing no one would ever help him. They would only hurt him more. He didn't dare to open his eyes, too afraid to see what weapons they would use. Why? What did he do? Why does everyone hate him? And where is his family? Perhaps they abandoned him. Yes, he was unwanted. Then why does he fight do live? Maybe it's an instinct. Little did he know that it wasn't his own instinct. Suddenly, he felt pain in his leg. Something cold against his skin: a knife. He wanted to scream so badly, but he wouldn't give these fools the pleasure to see him suffer. He was then beaten for nearly an hour, but he doesn't know that. He passed out when a bottle of beer-a glass bottle- hit him on his head. It took the Anbus another thirty minutes to find him. He was covered in blood, bruises and cuts, but what shocked the silver haired Anbu captain is the amount of blood flowing from his left eye. The wound isn't fatal, but not even the Kyubi can heal it. This time, the price was too big; the boy had been scarred. Permanently._

_A 5 years old homeless boy has just been blinded._

_That night, a desperate cry resonated in the village, a cry of agony, pain, and most of all, guilt. He failed. He failed his promises to his sensei, his sister and his best friend._

''_Narutoooo__!''_

* * *

He blinded a few times, rubbed his eyes, and pinched himself to convince himself that what he just heard was not a part of his imagination. Naruto would have found it funny if it wasn't for the delicate situation she is caught in. Finally, the Hokage spoke.

''You're... the sixth Hokage?''

''Yes.''

''Let's say it's true, then who was the fourth and the fifth? I also am only aware of one single person with the last name Namikaze and he's an orphan, at least from what he told me. I suggest you to refrain from telling such lies, for I am not a patient man.''

''Lies? Oh, I will show you lies. How about him being my father?''

''Please put this madness aside, I don not-''

''And to answer your question, the fourth was him and the Godaime Hokage was Tsunade-hime.'' Hiruzen was about to shout angrily at being interrupted, but at the last comment, he closed his mouth and began to pace in the room.

''I cannot believe the village managed to survive with her gambling habits...''

''Funny, her grandfather said exactly the same thing when he was brought back to life in the Fourth shinobi war.'' Naruto moved a little to be more comfortable. She felt this is going to be a very long conversation.

''The FOURTH shinobi war?! No offense, but we are in the middle of the Third.''

''Exactly. To put it simply, I'm not from this time. I can understand if you don't believe me, but I swear everything I'm saying is true. Let's just say that a madman wanted world domination by capturing everyone under a genjutsu using the moon and went to capture the nine Bijus to reanimate the Jubi. As the Jinchuuriki of the nine tailed demon fox, I was protected during the war. I used that time training with the container of the eight tails. However, I was too late to save Jiraiya.'' The Hokage didn't give any visible answer; he instead grabbed a chair, dragged it to the bed and gently sat on it. Seeing no need to interrupt her speech, Naruto continued.

''After many years of war, the five elemental nations formed and alliance and worked together. One after another, they began to fall. Iwa, Kumo and Kiri dissappeared from the map in 3 years. Gaara, the Godaime Kazekage and my friend, was the sole survivor of Suna with his brother, Kankuro and Temari, his pregnant older sister. They died in the last attack from Sound village. I and my friend in the other room were the last to die, and we were the only ones sent in the past. I was made Hokage after Tsunade's death.''

''...''

''I guess... I guess that if you don't believe me, then I... I...''

''I believe you.''

''Then I will have to hunt down the lunatic my- wait you really think I'm telling the truth?!''

The Sandaime made the universal sign for 'well then what the hell do you think I said'. ''Your tattoo is more than enough proof for me, and your eyes said the rest. Before, they were dull, as if you were resigned to your fate. But they _shined_ when you were talking about your friends. Why do you think the eyes are always the weak point of a shinobi? I don't trust you, but I'm willing to give you a chance.''

Naruto felt a weight being left from her shoulders. ''Thank you... thank you so much... you don't know how much this meant to me...'' the Sandaime chuckled at her reaction. Then, he pulled on her wrist without any warning, causing a startled yelp to escape Naruto's lips, making her blush. As a recently made female, she didn't know she could make this sort of noise. The Hokage touched the silver seal with two fingers and put into it a tiny bit of his chakra. Under the curious gaze of the girl, the seal began to change. Naruto didn't say anything when she felt a tickling sensation; she trusts the man with her life. After a few minutes, he removed his hand, and a new seal was revealed. This one isn't silver; it was blood red with green leaves in a simple and yet elegant design, curling around her wrist like a dragon. The kanji for wind remained silver though.

''Ho-hokage-sama! Why did you-''

''It is fine. Don't talk about this to anyone except Uchiha-san.'' It was now the Namikaze's turn to widen her cerulean eyes.

''Don't be so surprised. How many people do you know has black hair, black eyes, a stuck-up attitude and a mania to say (read: grunt) monosyllabic sentences?''

''...''

''I thought so. Now, I guess some kind of event changed you into a girl?''

''Ho-how di-did y-you...'' Naruto squirmed a little bit under the man's gaze, stuttering in a manner that would make Hinata proud.

''Simple. You said 'heir of the Uzumaki and Namikaze clan instead of 'heiress'. Also, you seem to be... uncomfortable with your... new assets.'' The Hokage had to retain a giggle.

''PERVERT! I just knew you're not better than ero-sennin, and I know that you keep those ****ing little books in the-mfff!''

A large hand covered her month in a fraction of second. ''Shhhh! Do you want me to be murdered by the nurses?! Tsunade is still in the building for Kami's sake, and God knows where she got this six sense about perverts!'' Sarutobi looked positively scared. Then, he took a bottle of sake from nowhere, opened it and took a long slurp.

''Ha! I should definitely buy saké from Kiri again! It's a shame that we are in a war against them...'' he said, causing a sweat drop from the girl on the bed.

'_Well at least I know from where Tsunade picked up her drinking habit,'_ she thought.

''Ano, I know you are enjoying your saké, but can we discuss about more... important matters? Like, how are you going to explain my presence here?'' she asked, still sweat dropping.

The Hokage didn't bother to turn his head. ''Well, I think it would be a good idea to talk about it in my office after you are discharged from the hospital along with your friend. I have a privacy seal in there applied by Mito-sama herself. He smiled when he heard a groan from Naruto. It sounds suspiciously like 'great, I have to be stuck in the hospital of all places...'. Hiruzen wasn't really surprised: after all, every good shinobi absolutely LOATHE being in the hospital when they could take missions or train. A few of them often tries to escape, so the nurses took the habit to tie their arms to the bed when they are still unconscious. The more tenacious ones will find all of their limbs tied to the bed with a camera watching them 24/7. It's rather funny to see them struggle with the ropes. Unfortunately for them, when they cause too much of a hassle, a certain blond kunoichi will come and silence them. Painfully. Those who received her 'treatment' had to remain in the hospital for another two months at the very best. Once, he had to put Tsunade on a week-long probation since she caused more damage to the shinobis instead of healing them. He shivered at the memory. She has been downright furious when she heard about his decision; let's just say that the gennins had another D-rank mission to repair a hole in the Hokage office. He couldn't work for three days straight after that. He did NOT enjoy waking up in the middle of the 'forest of Death' with a few broken bones. Seriously, what did her grandmother teach her? Their temper is already scary enough. A fierce temper plus a punch that can _easily_ shatter rock is not a good combination when you are on the receiving end.

'_But again, it's totally worth it if you are skilled enough to be able to take a close look to her... I wonder if all blondes are like her?'_

Sadly for the old man, he didn't realise he said that out loud. But his brain did register the blinding pain in his stomach; he only had the time to see the eyes of an angry blonde girl wrapped in bandages glaring at him before everything went black.

* * *

**So, how was it? I'****m messing with the timeline again, and the 'Naruto is blind' part will be explained in... a few chapters... I think. And please REVIEW! *bow***


	7. Chapter 7, A little trick

**Chapter 7: a little trick**

**A/N: I received a review that pointed out a few obvious mistakes. I'm really sorry. Somehow, my computer decided that I need to update my Flash Player. I didn't even install it! When I tried to, my anti-virus program doesn't let me. So now, I can only go on a few websites. Sadly, none of them can help me with my grammar. Hell, I can't even download music! And by the way, my Microsoft Word (and my computer) is in the Chinese version, so I can't run a spell check. I'm sorry if there will be more mistakes in the next chapters, but I'll try to fix the problem as soon as possible. Leave me a review if you notice any mistakes! Thank you and sorry for the inconveniences!**

* * *

Older men declare war. And yet, it's us that have to fight and die.

* * *

**Time skip: two months later**

'''ke-teme! Why the friggin' hell did you have to do that?! What did you say? I can't hear you! Wha-kyaaa! Argh! I swear, I'm gonna kill you some day, 'ke-temeeee!''

In the other room, a young girl just sighed in defeat. After enduring 60 days of almost constant yelling from the pair of new patients, her and her colleagues grew used to it. After all, no one dared to get in the way of their fights: she learned it the hard way. Rin had to suppress the memory to not shiver; she was stitching a wound of a younger academy student who was a little bit too nervous when he threw his first kunai and she don't want him to get more hurt because of her inattention.

'_Three, two one...'_

''AND I SWEAR, NARUTO-CHAN, THAT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO REMAIN IN YOUR HOSPITAL BED FOR ANOTHER WEEK, THEN YOU'D BETTER SHUT UP NOW!''

'_...and Tsunade-sensei comes in the picture.'_

Rin decided to focus on her task and finished her job quickly. After all, academy students do not appreciate stitching since they don't have a very high pain tolerance, especially the civilians. They would hopefully develop one before they will be thrown into the war, but most of them won't have one until they become chuunin, that is if they manage to somehow get out of their first war-related mission alive. As the apprentice of a renowned medic-nin, she had already seen death before, and a few of them were rather...messy. And yet, nearly all of them were gennin merely a year or two older than her. Her family wasn't a ninja clan, but a lot of the members were shinobi since most of them had nearly perfect chakra control: that was why she wants to become a medic-nin. Her grandmother on her father's side was an Inuzuka, which explains her markings, and her grandfather of her mother's side was a Nara. Rin isn't lazy since her somewhat wild Inuzuka blood cancelled out her Nara blood, but she inherited a calm and thoughtful attitude with the ability to understand animals to a certain extent, not to forget the perfect chakra control that seemed to be a trait in her family. But when she was three years old, her father went missing on an A rank mission. Four years later, her cousin was assassinated. Two years ago, her mother was killed on an S rank mission, leaving her as the sole survivor of the family living in Konoha. Since she became an orphan, she decided to use her ability to help the others: she just knew too well the pain to lose a family member.

At the same time, two floors below, a grumpy Tsunade was sorting through a week worth of paperwork. She hated paperwork; half of it is just good enough to be thrown into the garbage can. The worse part is that her assistant, Shizune, who normally read and stamp the paperwork for her, is sick and so she has to do all the work alone. Glancing at the clock, she noted that she still has three hours left before she can go home, which means it's time to do the final check before she can finally release her annoying new friends from the hospital. She arched her back, feeling the vertebrates crack with satisfaction, picked up her keys and her notepad before locking the door to her office and climbing out of the nearest window. Using chakra to stick to the wall, she walked past two windows, ignoring the incredulous looks she got from a few patients who saw her pass, and knocked on the third window before entering. The scene inside made her eyebrows disappear behind her hairline; she didn't know if she should laugh or remain standing there and watch the show. Deciding that the wall was more comfortable when she doesn't stick to it since she don't need to anymore, she stopped the chakra flow to her feet and silently sat down on the chair nearest to the window she used.

'''ke-teme! I'm going to fucking murder you!'' Naruto was currently strapped to her bed, her normal blond hair now fierce red. Tsunade had to admit that the color suit her well. It gives her a more... feline appearance. Since it was herself who attached the girl to the bedpost, nothing is wrong there. But what she certainly didn't do is the fact that the now red-head is soaked wet and screaming obscenities to her friend who was sitting on the other bed beside the struggling girl, slightly smirking. From the shaking of the raven's shoulders, Tsunade guessed she was trying to not laugh like a maniac.

''Ara, Naru-chan is mad? Here, let me fixe this little problem...'' Naruto shivered: Sasuke's voice practically screamed danger in big, bright letters.

Suddenly, the other girl was sitting beside Naruto, her hand slowly reaching for a precise spot behind Naruto's right ear while she grinned evilly.

''What the heck are you d-hyaa!''

The hand scratched slowly that spot, making its victim struggle even more. After a few minutes of scratching and squirming, the girl gave up and she closed her eyes, her body relaxing from the treatment. Tsunade heard a curious noise she identified as... purring? She misheard... did she? In a vain attempt to prove herself as a perfectly sane woman, she moved closer, not caring if the younger girls notice her presence. Sadly, she was proven correct. Finding the scene rather cute, she didn't interrupt their scene, but after half an hour, it became boring and she started to fall asleep. Seeing as it was a bad idea, she coughed in her hand.

It was fun to see Naruto's body match her hair color from her toes all the way to her ears in a matter of seconds, and Sasuke wasn't much better, her pale skin not helping at all. She was turning her head to hide her blush despite how cute she looked with a rosy tint to her cheeks.

''Tsunade-san.''

''Tsu-tsunade-san!''

The medic-nin just laughed as Naruto blushed even more at her stuttering, turning into a whole new shade of red.

''Naruto-chan, I believe it is time for your last checkup. You too, Sasuke-chan.''

''Another one?'' the girl was pouting, until she understood the entire meaning of the sentence. ''Wait, did you just say 'the last one'?'' said the girl, her blue eyes shining with joy.

The slug sannin chuckled again. The girl looked like a happy puppy.

''I believe so, sunshine.''

''Yatta! Isn't it great, Sasuke?'' Naruto took her raven friend's hands and proceeded to jump on every surface she can stand on, dragging Sasuke in her crazy dance, making Tsunade's grin widen.

''Hn.'' The girl only grunted back, too dazed to be able to say anything else.

''Well, shall we begin?''

Naruto stopped dead in her track and gulped. The look in Tsunade's eyes had a very, very dangerous gleam in them. Oh please sweet Kami not this. Tsunade just went into her crazed-lunatic-and-so-curious-that-I-don't-care-if-I-scarred-dismembered-or-mutilated-you-medic-mode; the two girls wondered if they'll live to see the daylight tomorrow. Maybe not if the drill in the medic's hands is any indication.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen was currently sitting in his office, peacefully enjoying his black tea, looking at the village he protected by any means for years with a proud expression on his face. It felt good to not hear the constant sound of papers being stamped after having to deal with it for the most part of his life. For once, he was relaxing in his office. War reports, new missions, complains from greedy merchants, name them. The list just went on, seemingly never ending. He'll have to go to the hospital to thank a certain girl for telling him the little trick that allowed him to rest like he's doing right now. Talking about the girl, wasn't she supposed to be released from the hospital soon?

_Flashback_

_Sarutobi Hiruzen, third Hokage of Konoha and the God of shinobi, was currently facing a very, very dangerous situation. He was trapped in an unofficial S-rank jutsu and he was struggling to snap out of it. Said jutsu is not harming him in any physical way, but it was tearing him apart in the inside. He felt so guilty... and the puppy eyes in front of him do NOT help him at all. Big, blue eyes shining with unshed tears... are those tears ever real? Nevertheless, he still found himself unable to refuse the silent plead in those sinful cerulean orbs that looked like those Minato had. He didn't even know the owner for more than 2 weeks and he was already falling in her charm. Sighing, he forced himself to turn his back to her and closed his eyes. He can literally _feel_ her tears with his back turned if such a thing is even possible._

''_Naruto… you know that I can't be with you all day. I still… I still…''the words refused to come out, and so, he spent a few minutes closing and opening his mouth, making a very good impression of a gold fish._

''_Yes?'' the girl asked with shining, pleading puppy eyes. This ability of hers should be a curse, he thought._

''_I… I still have tons of paperwork to finish! And my assistant dumps a new pile on my desk every 5 minutes, and, and…''_

''_Yes?''_

''_Look, I can't, okay?! I'm the Hokage and it's NOT an easy job! And I don't even get paid…''_

''_But… But…'' Naruto's lower lip was quivering as if she was going to cry._

''… _You know what, I'll stay if you can find out a way for me to do the paperwork quicker.'' As soon as he finished the sentence, a huge grin appeared on the blonde's face, and she was looking at him with an expression that clearly says 'I win!'. The old monkey is already starting to regret his decision._

''_Do you know where is the forbidden scroll?''_

''_Of course!''_

''_What is the third jutsu in the A-rank section?''_

''_Ummm… the kage bunshin no jutsu, I think?'' Slowly, a surprised look formed on the Hokage's face as his eyes widened. By his expression, realization had hit him rather hard._

''_Oh.''_

_The blond girl was already laughing her ass off and rolling on the ground. Trying to suppress a chuckle, he bent down and tried to get her to sit back in her chair, but when he touched her, she turned her head and looked at him with clouded eyes._

''_Sarutobi-jiji?''_

''_Hai?''_

''_Catch me well, I feel sleepy-ttebane.''_

_He didn't have the time to ask what she meant when he felt her weight in his arms. Looking down, he saw Naruto passed out in his lap._

''_Naruto? Oi, Naruto! Damn it!''_

_Flashback end_

The Hokage chuckled lightly at the memory. After that little episode, he went back to his office and proceeded to bang his head against the wall repeatedly. Seriously, how come no one ever found out this trick?! Even his sensei, the previous Hokage, had missed this detail and he was still known as a 'natural genius'. When he was younger, it was quite funny to watch his late sensei launch himself at a training log after a few hours in his office doing paperwork, but he soon found himself joining Tobirama-sensei after he began to do some himself. Looking at his three clones that were currently sorting through all the papers, he suddenly began to crackle madly, making his Anbu guards sweat. Suddenly, a loud bang made him stop laughing. At his door was a red-haired girl with big blue eyes. He thought at first that it was Kushina, but the Whirlpool kunoichi was not as tall as the girl who interrupted him.

''Long time no see, old man Sarutobi!''

That voice... could it be?

''Na-naruto?! What happened to you?''

Said girl scratched her head in a very familiar way, but he can't tell where he saw it. ''Oh, this? I thought that the colour looked good on me...''

''Hn, Hokage-san.'' A girl half hidden by the shadow grunted form behind.

''Hello to you too, Sasuke-san.'' After spending a few decades associating with the Uchiha clan, the Hokage is now able to translate their 'typical Uchiha language' almost perfectly and respond properly, which annoy the clan a lot. It took him nearly 5 years to understand it, though.

''So Naruto, I think you're released from the hospital?''

''Hell yeah!''

The older man couldn't stop himself from smiling warmly to her. This girl has a enchanting aura coming from her that makes people feel all warm inside, no matter who. Hell, she even managed to befriend an Uchiha, which is not a small feat.

''Hokage-san, sorry to disturb your conversation, but should we get to more... urgent matters?'' Sasuke said, finally coming out of the shadow of the room.

''If that's what you want, Uchiha-san.'' He made a few hand seals and activated a blue barrier with a 5 meters radius, successfully freaking out his Anbu guards again. ''Well Naruto, I thought a bit about this, and I decided to put you and Sasuke-san in Anbu. We couldn't have two shinobi popping out from nowhere, after all. If I put you in Anbu, we could just say that you two were on a long-term undercover mission and I had to destroy all you identities so if you ever get captured, the enemy wouldn't be able to tell where you come from. I believe you already have experience in this field?''

The girl chuckled a little bit. ''Yes, you can say that, but I actually made Anbu captain in less than a year and became commander in another 5 months, and shortly after that, I took the Hokage hat, so I left my place to Sasuke. Half a year after, well... you know what happened. I had enough time to comprehend how the system works, but I didn't get a lot of practice.'' The third Hokage only nodded in silent understanding. It's never pleasant to mention how you died, after all, and the man can only sympathize with them. He himself had been close to death too many times, and he know that talking about it is not exactly enjoyable. It brings back too many bad memories, especially if you lost a friend on the same day, or friends in their case.

Suddenly, the door slammed open for the second time of the day, and an Anbu with a tiger mask appeared, covered in blood. By the time the Anbu looked up, the barrier already disappeared.

''Tora, report!''

''Ho-hokage-sama, the mission had been successful. However, Tsuki had been forced to used _that_ chakra, and something went wrong. It looks like chakra poisoning...''

''Where is she?!''

The Anbu turned her head so quickly that you can almost hear her bones crack, obviously surprised by the presence of the red head.

''In the hospital, third floor...''

''Sasuke!'' the girl half yelled.

''Hai!''

Without further warning, the two vanished without a trace in two swirls of fire, only leaving behind a gaping Hokage and a shell-shocked Anbu.

* * *

**A/N: finally finished! Tsuki means Moon, and I forgot to say earlier, but Anbu is actually 'ANsatsu senjutsu tokushu BUtai', which means 'special assassination and tactical squad'. Hope you enjoyed it and REVIEW please!**


	8. Chapter 8, Tsuki and Hachidori

**Chapter 8: Tsuki and Hachidori**

**A/N: Yey, another chapter! Hope you enjoy! Try to listen to Race from Dax Johnson while reading, it's pretty good.**

* * *

_Without further warning, the two vanished without a trace in two swirls of fire, only leaving behind a gaping Hokage and a shell-shocked Anbu._

Run. Run. RUN! Those were the only thoughts she was able to comprehend in her current state of mind. She can feel her heart beating heavily in her chest, the suddenly loud pumping masking the noise of the wind she can feel rushing past her. The world around her was a grey and black background with dots of different color, the most being light red or dark crimson, but a few were occasionally brighter than the others. Only then, she noted that she had her eyes closed since she left the tower in a rather flashy move. Since a few minutes, she was solely relying on her ability of 'seeing' chakra, courtesy of Kyubi when she met her after her left eye was rendered useless. She frowned at the memory and caste it aside for the moment. The only time she had been this worried about someone was when she knew about Pein attacking Konoha while she was training with the toads, but again, the entire village had been concerned. Her thoughts were jumbled together, her brain ordering her body to move faster, quicker and swifter. She complied wholeheartedly. Sweating slightly, Naruto felt the amount of fear consuming her inside like fire, twisting and swirling in her stomach like a flaming whirlpool, growing at every second that passes as she hopped from rooftop to rooftop; she paid it no mind, choosing to concentrate on how to _not_ lose her balance since she discovered her chakra control went to hell because of the 'travel'. That had been an awful new: she spent 3 years to gain the level of inhuman chakra control she had and now she has to do it all over again.

She noticed the shadow of Sasuke following her silently, only a fraction of second behind like she used to do when they did joined missions in Anbu. She knew that her sister can easily keep up and the raven was probably even faster, that is if she didn't start to use…that jutsu. Smiling softly to no one -or it seemed- she pumped a little more chakra in the tenketsu on her feet and literally propelled herself from another rooftop, dislodging a few tiles that she heard shattering on the ground a few stories below. She ignored the cursing from the owner who didn't see her. Her target was now only a few streets from her position; the white building she exited only an hour before appeared bigger than in her memories, standing tall in the middle of the hidden village like a white spot in the middle of a black painting. Landing on her feet soundlessly, she busted through the wooden door, nearly tearing it from its hinges, startling the two chuunin that happened to be assigned on guard duty and scaring pretty much every nurse except the kunoichi working there. She rushed to the nearest chuunin, since the other one had a pineapple-style ponytail and he would probably find her question too 'troublesome'.

''Excuse me, do you know in which room is the Anbu that recently got here? She has a white and black mask...''

''Oh, you mean the Anbu with the tsuki mask? I think she's in room 312, next to the stairs...''

''Thank you! And sorry for the door, but just ask the Hokage for the money!'' she then ran toward the stairs and disappeared. The startled chuunin opened his mouth to ask her what she meant by 'the door' since she didn't break it, but a loud crash made him turn his head only for a black blur to pass beside him and vanish a second later, following the red haired girl. Blinking a few times, he turned his gaze toward the door, and his jaw dropped to the floor.

''Shikaku... i-is it just me or that girl really did run into a... five inches wooden door strengthened with chakra an-and a few dozen seals made by our best seal master _and_ came out without a scratch?'' he asked in an incredulous voice.

He received a simple nod from the thoughtful Nara. You can nearly see the wheels spinning almost too fast in his head.

''And a black thing made a hole in it... I wonder at what speed did that thing move? Probably more than 100 km/h, but less than-''

The other chuunin's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. ''Can you please shut up? You can do that at home with the other geniuses in your family. But for now, do we report to Hokage-sama?''

''...''

''Shikaku!''

* * *

The hallway seemed endless to her as she ran, her labored breath and the sound of her sandals against the white floor resonating in the empty corridor. Naruto wasn't tired. She could run for days without break, and she had once run for a week during a mission that went really bad. That time, she was still new in Anbu and she had conveniently met Madara and the snake-face on her way back to Konoha. Injured and exhausted, she knew she couldn't possibly fight so she chose to flee. A year of war had calmed her down and beaten some common sense into her; she had retained her cheerful attitude, but she no longer shouts or acts out of impulsiveness only. So she knew she couldn't possibly be tired after barely a 2 minutes run. Then why was she panting? And what was that feeling in her chest? Instead of dispersing, it only grew as she approached the door with the number 312 engraved in the wooden door. She suddenly stopped running a second before she would crash in the door, her head staring at the handle. The movement made her red hair fell in front of her eyes, hiding her eyes so no one could tell her expression, though it was pretty obvious if someone looked at her slightly shaking hand.

How should she act when she finally can meet 'her' in person? What would the Anbu say? Would she be asleep? And what would she look like at this age? What should she say to her?

'_Would she accept me?'_ the girl thought. She felt an Anbu staring at her from somewhere, but she could not pinpoint his exact location. Not that she cared; she was too absorbed in her own thoughts to do so. The Hokage already gave her a hitai-ate, so as long as she doesn't do anything dangerous or that may cause suspicion, the Anbu could not do anything to her. A light tap on her shoulder brought her out of her musing. It was Sasuke who looked at her with an understanding look in her eyes. She felt comforted with that hand: it felt cold on her skin, but it was warm to her, just not physically.

''Naruto,'' the black haired girl started, ''go for it.''

That little sentence immediately calmed her down and brought a small smile on her delicate face. She had always trusted Sasuke. It began when the Uchiha had saved her life on their first C-rank mission. It grew a little bit when they fought together against Orochimaru during the second part of their first chuunin exam. But when Naruto felt she could place her heart in someone else's hand for good, Sasuke left the village. Not wanting to lose her only friend, she ran after her, only for her trust to be nearly broken when the Uchiha shoved a chidori through her chest. Being the optimist person she was, she still believes that the raven could be saved; after all, she didn't kill her when she could. She believes it to be the way Sasuke says 'I can't do it because you can help me'. She still took pride in the fact Sasuke returned to Konoha willingly after the girl learned the reason behind the Uchiha massacre. The scar on her chest doesn't bother her anymore after her friend apologized (read: knelt on the floor and begged for her pardon while crying for the unnecessary death of her dear brother). Of course, Sasuke denied everything after that episode: she still had her Uchiha pride to maintain.

Her smile turned into a smirk, confusing her sister figure. Now feeling better, Naruto simply stopped asking questions and posed her hand on the metal handle. She turned it, opened the door and quickly stepped inside.

The room was white and plain, exactly what someone would expect from a hospital chamber. A few machines were beeping here and there, and a pot of peony orchid sat on a desk. They mean healing, so the person who put them there must be a close friend of the Anbu. Naruto stopped walking when a soft voice spoke.

''Su-suichu-chan?''

'_Who?'_

She must have said that out loud because the other red head started to apologize.

''O-oh, sorry! I thought you were.. hum...''

''You thought I was someone in your family because of my hair color.'' Naruto finished the sentence for her mother, causing the woman to blush profusely. No one noticed that Naruto had a sour look on her face.

'_No, this Uzumaki Kushina is not _my_ mother. She won't be mine. She will be baby Naruto's, not mine... _my_ mother died on the day I was born. Father as well... and everyone else... here, nothing is mine...'_

This particular depressing thought made her heart clench painfully. She hadn't realized before, but she was now truly alone. The smile from the Sandaime wasn't for her. The conversations she enjoyed so much with the slug sannin were not meant for her. The encouraging smiles and friendly taps on the back from the nurses weren't for her... nothing belong to her in this world. She was alone again, just like when she was in the orphanage... lonely, sad, and _dispensable_. No one will remember or be worried about her if she was to disappear the next day. They would be concerned for her alias. The only thing she has from _her_ friends was the memories she has and the necklace from Tsunade. The time she passed laughing with Kiba, the cloud-watching with Shikamaru, the harsh training with Gai and Lee, the weapon training with Tenten, the annoying shopping with Ino, the 'talk' from Jiraiya, the mourning moments with Kakashi, the time she learned about Hinata's lifelong crush on her, and so much else... everything is now just part of a future that would never happen.

'**_Kit...'_**

'_Kyubi, don't. Just... don't. I can't.'_

'**_Kit, listen-'_**

'_No!'_

'**_NAMIKAZE NARUTO!'_**

That effectively caught her attention. Kuybi never shouts, and she didn't call her by her full name since Naruto was 14. It was always brat or kit, depending on the giant fox's mood. The red head felt oddly comforted when the vixen called her by her father's last name, her true name.

'**_Naruto, you're _****not****_ alone. I'm still here, the Uchiha is still here,'_** the demon said grudgingly, **_'and even if your new friends don't know your real identity, their emotions toward you are _****not****_ fake. They are meant for _****you****_. It doesn't matter if you're an Uzumaki or even a Kaguya: you are still you and your friends will always feel the same as long as you remain true to yourself. And remember: no matter what happens, I'll always be with you. It's not as if I have a say on it anyway.'_**

'_Ha-hai...'_

'**_Now go before the Uchiha goes crazy of worry.'_**

The demon smile in her mind when the sad expression on her jailor's face was slowly replaced by a more determined one. Yes, this girl is truly worthy of her lineage, the fox thought.

'_Thank you Kurama!'_

'**_You're welcome, kit. And remember, when a fox recognize someone's power, which happens really rarely, it will be loyal to that person for the rest of eternity.'_**

Naruto was confused, but brushed it aside as 'one of the weird things old people say'. After all, no matter how young Kyubi looks like, she's still a few thousand years old demon. The mind link was then broken, indicating that the girl was now cutting out all possible distraction to focus more on her mother.

''Ano, I'm Uzumaki Kushina. And you are...?'' the woman said, trying to break the awkward silence.

''Huh? Oh! I'm Naruto, nice to meet ya! And this is-''

''Sasuke. I believe I can speak for myself, dobe.''

''Oh my God! Kushina-san please remember every detail of what she just said. This is maybe the only time you'll ever hear sarcasm coming out of the mouth of this ice cube.'' Naruto said with a rather obvious fake surprised expression.

That made Kushina blink.

''... it wasn't funny, was it?''

She got her answer when no response came.

* * *

It was so dark. He felt cold. It was freezing in this dark room. He heard someone cough, and then a wet sound. It seems his teammate, Inukami by the feminine and yet deep sound of the voice, was coughing up blood. No. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. It was supposed to be a fairly easy mission. Then why is he here? Why are him and his teammates in a heavily guarded prison with their chakra suppressed by seals? It was supposed to be a simple A-rank mission where they have to guard a rich merchant to Kaminari no kuni. Turns out that their client owns several criminal organizations and he's a regular customer at the black market. He's involved in selling drugs, illegal weapons, and _people_. A good percentage of them are his past _ninja_ guards that he hires missing-nins to capture and they were then brain washed. Men were sold as slaves and women as maids, though some of them were, well, forced into a more... questionable industry. The Anbu captain was furious at that thought. He respects kunoichi since they were rather rare in their profession, and considering the _very_ high death rate, those women who chose to become a shinobi are either ignorant, very courageous ore downright nuts. That's the situation in other villages though. In Konoha, younger girls want to become kunoichi because they have a strong will to protect their home and family. Their belief in the will of fire is what makes them strong enough to go against all the inconveniences in being a female shinobi. Furthermore, kunoichi tend to face higher risks than men, considering their gender, so the Anbu captain has a very good reason to put them in high regard. That's also what makes him downright furious when a civilian dares to treat his female companions like pieces of meat. So when he discovered that little fact about their employer, he had nearly killed him if it wasn't for the odorless and colorless poison that was put in his meal a few hours before. And now, because of his acts, his team is stuck here, waiting for death or worse. He pulled on his handcuffs and sighed.

'_Think, Hachidori, think. What can you do in this situation?'_

* * *

**Yey, finished chapter 8! Hachidori means hummingbird and Tsuki means moon. I hope you enjoyed! It's a little bit hard for me to update now, cause it's the end of the year and I have 2 weeks straight of exams, 1-2 per day. It's hard to find time between working, studying, planning this summer, finding new workers for my dad's restaurant and did I mention studying? So I'm veerry busy now. And please Review! I like to hear what you think about my story. I'm also working on making longer chapters (around 3k+), but the closest I've been to 3000 words is chapter 7...**

***bow***


	9. Chapter 9, A golden bird

**Chapter 9: A golden bird**

**A/N: Sorry for the very late update! I actually finished this chapter a long time ago, but when I was going to save it after I made a small change (changing 'a' to 'e'), my computer decided that it had no more electricity and shut down. When I managed to reopen it five minutes later, I lost this document and so, the result of two days of no sleeping went flying out of the window. And I spent so much effort in finishing it! (Not sleeping when you have to help at your dad's restaurant everyday from 9AM to 8PM is really hard, and I had regular headache. My head is still pounding now.) So I had to rewrite it all over again. Just great. I was SO frustrated! And so that was how I discovered the funny fact that I actually have **_**less**_** time to write during summer. Okay, let's stop talking about the story of my life and let's read! Enjoy!**

**Warning: this chapter contains major spoiling!**

* * *

''_If humans are white and demons are black, then ninjas are definitely grey. But humans are not white, for all the crimes within their own society and the darkness in their hearts. The only true untainted being are- and will hopefully remain as it is- children. No child can be corrupted since they are too small, young and innocent to be touched by the darkness, and this also applies in the demon world after it was 'created'. But as those children grow, year after year, their mind will mature and they will begin to see the darker side of the world, where criminals and even darker beings lead their existence, and that will be their first but not last contact with it. A shadow will soon begin to grow in their heart; first fear and then sadness. Because of this, a pure soul is rare, only seen once in a few hundred years. But those children who possess it often don't survive long enough to be noticed, their light too bright for the darkness to ignore. And so they were devoured, one after another, until one didn't appear for a thousand years._

_During that time, obscurity had already claimed the third and the second realms of life because of the lack of pure beings, and had turned their eternal inhabitants into demons and selfish mortals, leaving the residents of the first and original realm to fear for the safety of this universe. After numerous fruitless meetings, they finally decided to choose the next pure female mortal and give her the power her ancestors lost. She was to be born in 24 years in the royal family as a princess: Otsutsuki Kaguya._

_She was to remain pure until she give birth to a child who also will be pure; the first child of prophecy. The princess was given the fruit of the Shinju, and she merged with the holy tree after committing the taboo of consuming the fruit, becoming the progenitor of Seimei no Kigen, as the residents of the first realm call it. Kaguya had two sons who were the first humans to be naturally born with Seimei no Kigen in their body in recorded history. Only one of them survived the darkness, in their case war: he was the said child of prophecy, Otsutsuki Hagoromo. He will be later known as the Sage of Six Paths, and he was considered as equal to the residents of the first realm by the humans and the demons due to his unearthly powers. Later in his life, by sealing his mother along with the Juubi she created in order to retake his power that she believed was rightfully hers, he erased the darkness from the Earth and was rewarded with a fitting gift after his death; he became the first human inhabitant of the first realm, and so a new God came into existence. But as time passed, the darkness grew again in his descendants as they fought, longing for more of that power in their body they called chakra. Those who gained special chakra this way then created their own clans as they were the only ones who managed to survive the endless battles, and the dominant clans were direct descendants of the Rikudou Sennin: the Uchiha, the Senju and the Uzumaki. These clans formed an alliance and managed to stop the wars by winning every battle, forcing the minor clans into submission. After 400 years of peace, conflict rose anew between the Uchiha and the Senju, ending the treaty their ancestors created and freeing the minors clans under their rule. Some remained loyal, like the Inuzuka or the Aburame, while others took this opportunity and declared war upon the three great clans, like the Kaguya clan. That was the beginning of the warring era which eventually let to the first shinobi war, and at its end the foundation of the five main ninja villages. Every clans that survived were nursing their wounds, and they all recovered after 3-4 generations, but one didn't: it was the Uzumaki clan of Whirlpool country. Caught between the conflicts of those they called brothers and sisters, they suffered the most damage and payed a heavy price: their most powerful warrior in a thousand years, Uzumaki Usui, their clan head, and his summoning scroll that was said to be a gift from Kami herself and passed down by the Sage of six Paths. Rumors said that it was hidden, simply waiting for the next summoner who would be deemed fitting, but after many searches, the clan finally abandoned the idea of recovering it. And so ended another grim chapter of the history of this world.''_

''But their glory didn't end there, for their clan to be the closest related to the Sage by blood and the only one who ever gave birth to pure beings after his death... beings that were later called 'Fumetsu', or Immortal. Beings that were said to be parents of all children chosen by the Gods. Don't forget that part, my child. And I still have plans for the Uzumaki clan, since I can't allow my own blood to be shed more than necessary.''

''_Mother!''_

''_**Greetings, Mother. But for you to show up yourself... is it already time?''**_

''Patience, my child. It is still too soon. The remaining bearers of the golden Heart still have not activated their power. They didn't pull the trigger, as you would say. I only came to warn you that the third Heart is quite unstable right now, so I need you to watch over him until he heals completely. He needs to be healthy when he will become a vessel to your last brother.''

''**Understood. But can I send 'them' out already? They have waited for far too long already for their liking... and they just can't stop annoying me.''**

''Ah yes, the accommodators. Do as you wish, my child. It is your decision to take after all. But don't do anything too soon, or you may disrupt the balance again. I suggest waiting at least a few weeks. Be patient, since you have always been the 'problem child' in the family. And Hikage, don't let your brother get out of your sight, understand?''

''_**Yes mother.''**_

''**Mother, do you still need to treat me like a baby? I am the oldest sibling and yet...''**

''Raise, you may be older than your sisters in age, but they are more mature than you will even be in a few centuries. So do not protest.''

''**... Yes Mother.''**

''_Mother, my children are calling. The newest clan is already causing trouble. It seems my charges are getting impatient as well as 'them'. May I leave?''_

''Please do. Hikage, Raise, you can go with Tendo. I do not have a reason to delay you further if your sister cannot be present to this meeting.''

Two nods later, three swirls of fire, each a different color, rose from the earth and disappeared in the clouds, leaving the woman called Mother alone.

''Soon, my child. The time is arriving...'' the divine creature said softly while rubbing her slightly showing belly, then looked at the sky and smiled sweetly, showing her perfect white dentition, her eyes shifting from cerulean to a dark gold, and vanished after throwing an amused gaze toward a specific spot in the forest behind her, her gracefully flowing kimono leaving an afterimage of a snow-white bird. No trace of her passing was left when a group of bloodied and battled masked shinobi emerged in the now empty clearing a second later. But the birds were singing in unison and the flowers seemed to be more beautiful than ever, forest green leaves dancing in the air around one certain unconscious Anbu, and for a moment, behind his mask, golden eyes shone instead of sky blue before closing again, and in the depths of those eyes, a tiny heart began to beat.

'_Mother...'_

* * *

In the meantime, at the hospital, a red haired girl was standing nervously in front of a room, pacing in the corridor from time to time, always coming back standing in front of the same wooden door. She didn't seem to notice the exasperated nurse beside her.

''Ano, Naruto-san? Naruto-san!''

''Ha-hai!''

The nurse only sighed. ''Naruto-san, you don't have to be so tense. We are just doing a checkup for Kushina-san. We are not going to operate her or anything.'' To tell the truth, the nurse had no idea why the kunoichi in front of her would be this worried about someone she just met half an hour before, but what can she say? She was also worrying about the red head even if she only met her a few times. Kushina's personality was very charming, and the nurse can't do anything other than think of the girl as a friend. Charm was also something the taller red head didn't lack of, it seemed, as she had discovered earlier. Maybe they are related? It is highly possible considering the uncanny resemblance between those two. Perhaps sisters or cousins?

''If you want, I can show you where you can wait for us to finish. I don't think standing in front of this door for hours will be very comfortable.''

''... okay, if you insist...'' Naruto started hesitantly. The nurse smiled, and she began walking toward the stairs. Naruto followed, and she soon found herself again on the first floor. They passed by a few shinobi in fresh bandages and a doctor, who all smiled at her warmly and those who can waved a hand as well. _'Just like back home'_, the girl thought bitterly. They walked pass the front door, where the guards were standing, and she noted two faces that she didn't recognize from earlier. _'The Nara and his comrade must be reporting to the Hokage by now'_, Naruto smirked in amusement. The Hokage is in for a hell of a meeting, and she couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry for him. She soon brushed the feeling aside. When they arrived in a small room with a dozen rows of chairs, the nurse stopped walking and turned toward her.

''Here we are,'' she said.

''Thank you, nurse-san.'' Naruto bowed slightly to the other woman, who simply waved it off while shaking her head, and this action seemed vaguely familiar to Naruto.

''Call me Misaki, Naruto-san. You can't call me 'nurse-san' forever, can you? I have a feeling that we are going to see each other soon, and I don't want you calling me Haruno-san either, there are too much of us running around in the hospital.''

'_Haruno? So that's where I've seen it before...'_ Naruto realized; Sakura had done the same motion the first time they've met. He didn't doubt it was genetic, since her own habit of rubbing the back of her neck when she was embarrassed also came from her parents. She knew since she had met both of them in her mind a few years ago, when the war barely started and no one had died yet. But a question was still left. Noticing the red head looking at herself with a curious gaze, Misaki blinked and soon realized what was the unspoken question.

''I see you're wondering why I don't have bright pink hair like my fellow clanswomen?''

''Ho-how did you-'' Naruto stuttered. Does this woman read people's mind? She's not even a Yamanaka!... Or is she?

''Simple, everyone ask me that.'' Naruto flinched a little bit. It surely would have been annoying if you were asked the same question again and again. Misaki simply cracked a grin, so similar the the one Naruto once carried in her youth.

''Have you ever seen a kunoichi with hair more noticeable than _pink_? I would rather have it red or even blond, at least you can hide yourself in the desert in wind country! Even purple is better, at least it looks like dried blood! Pink is also considered the most _girly_ color and it's an insult of the highest caliber to a kunoichi like myself! It is a horrible color in my opinion, we'll be spotted right away and that's the last thing we would want on a mission short of dying!'' she ranted, then continued in a more subdued voice after a passing doctor shot her a warning glance, making her blush. ''So when on duty, I and the other female ninjas in my clan use to cover it with a hood or dye it since a genjutsu would be too easy to be seen through by a sensor type, and we have plenty of those during the war. I usually use the hood because dye can be washed off by water and there is plenty of shinobis with a water affinity around, but the there was a storm during my mission, and I just found by luck a shop where they sell anti-water dye, so I used it. I simply didn't have time to get it off. And of course the Haruno men don't need pink as a hair color since birth. It's so unfair!''

_'Ah... it's one of Saku-chan's moodswings...and that's why Saku-chan always wear a hood during the war... I guess it makes sense, but then wouldn't we see more ninjas with hoods running around? Well, this will be a matter to reflect on later.'_

''Misaki-san, I think that pink would suit you rather well...'' That was totally true; the Haruno woman was beautiful with her big emerald eyes and her shoulder-length hair, the brown making the forest green of her eyes stand out-Naruto was sure pink would do just as good, maybe better- and even if she is considered short for a 25 years old woman- she's around 1m55 wearing dark-brown combat boots with heels- it only makes her look younger as she was not as 'developed' as other women her age.

Misaki smiled and a light pink colored her cheeks. ''Why thank you, you're the second person to say that to me.''

''Second? And who is the first?''

Suddenly, Misaki's mood had considerably darkened and she looked sad. Realizing her mistake, Naruto promptly apologized, only to be cut off by a weak attempt at smiling by her new friend.

''It's okay, it just takes time to... you know... forget.''

''I understand, and I'm sorry...''

''I told you, it's okay. Now I have to leave, I still have plenty of patients to visit and I'm already late...'' she looked at her wrist watch, ''by 45 minutes!'', and ran off quickly without saying goodbye. But Naruto knew better than to believe her, and she silently activated sage mode to track the Haruno. True to her instincts, the woman ran out of the hospital by the back door and ran toward a training ground the Uzumaki was quite fond of, training ground 7, instead of heading toward her bureau. She passed it and stopped not even a minute later, right in front of a rock standing a little bit higher than her waist. If looked closer, one would be able to distinguish names engraved in the stone, covering half of it in small kanjis. Naruto sighed and turned off sage mode after giving a mental tap the the woman's shoulder. She didn't want to spy in what was not hers to see. It was not as if she needed to, as she already knew pretty much what the kunoichi was about to do; she herself had done it plenty of times already in the 'past'.

Naruto didn't notice that Misaki had put a hand on her left shoulder, rubbing a spot as if someone had given a small tap to that place with a little bit too much power.

* * *

_One day earlier, in the forest surrounding Konoha_

''_Did you bring what we need?''_

''_Yes sir. I made sure I was not followed. I already took care of our spy.''_

''_Good, Tsuchikage-sama did not want any witness. We are beginning the invasion in a week, gather our men.''_

''_Yes sir!''_

_On the black haired man's forehead was a Iwa hitai-ate._

* * *

**So, what do you think? Oh, and the whole accommodator and Heart thing will be explained later... in a few chapters... I think... and please REVIEW!**


	10. Chapter 10, Retrieval mission

**Chapter 10: Retrieval mission**

**A/N:Sorry! I'm so freaking sorry for this super late update! My USB key kinda blocked and for it to function again I had to do something and now that I can use it, well let's just say that I noticed that in the process, all my files disappeared...including my newest chapter. I'm SO sorry! So I wrote this today in the record time of 4 hours...**

* * *

Today was a beautiful day, although very hot and dry, just like the entire week had been. At 8 in the morning, the streets of Konoha were already crowded with civilians going to work and a few jonin-sensei with their teams coming back from the Hokage tower, their mission scroll in hand. Some were chatting excitedly, others were silently taking the 'rooftop way'. It was one of the hottest days of the season, and business was good, though some people chose instead to remain at home, within the reach of the water seals. Those seals, another result of the genius of the second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, were designed and created with the help of one of the best seal masters known in the Elemental Nations; as the weather was harsher back when the first Hokage didn't grow the huge forest surrounding Konoha using his Mokuton, they had the idea of making a seal that would act as a refreshing factor and that would be durable enough to last through all summer.

The seal was designed in a circular pattern: it had the kanji for water written in the center to transform chakra into said element, and a few very small dispersing seals around it to turn the water into particles. Then, another layer was added to suck the hotter water particles in the air into the seal, which would make the seal 'overload' and force the cold water particles out of the seal, thus refreshing the room. This way, an extracting seal will be unneeded. But this is not all: a last layer, one so hidden that only an experienced seal master could recognize with difficulty, was added to constantly keep a certain amount of chakra-enhanced water, and another small seal that acted as a chakra detector was inserted, so that when a bigger than genin-level chakra burst was sensed, it would force all the water out, forming a chakra-filled space that acts as a barrier. But seals need chakra to function properly, and most of them are not durable; so this water seal was designed to constantly absorb a small amount chakra from the owner of the house, small enough to not bother a civilian child, and the extra chakra was stored away and then mixed with the hotter water particles that were sucked in the seal to create the defensive chakra-enhanced water. No need to say, if kept around for a few years, this simple seal can turn into quite a lethal weapon if used the right way.

These seals, although useful, were rather difficult to make; the instructions were passed down from seal masters to their students, as the knowledge was considered too dangerous for anyone else. Unfortunately, the number of seals masters had decreased greatly during the years as many died on the battlefield; now Konoha only has Jiraiya of the Sannin and his student, the rising star of the village, Namikaze Minato.

The morning sun quickly turned into an insufferable heat by noon; civilians were quick to return home, and most genins were sent back home as training was impossible unless you were ready to suffer dehydration. But not all shinobi were off duty, and so most Anbu were stuck in this hellish heat that menaced to burn them alive, and their dark clothes did not make anything easier to bear.

But all this did not affect any of the enthusiasm floating in the air since yesterday: everyone was excited to see the new Anbu team they heard about from well informed gossipers, and according to the rumors going around in their circle, they were quite a powerful bunch. Those on duty were more than happy to do their job to be able to head back to the headquarters sooner, as the newest team was said to arrive around 6 o'clock. Even the Anbu captains were not unaffected by this, and so, by nothing short of a miracle, nearly every member of the organisation was present at twenty to six, injury or not. Some of them even brought their comrades here from the hospital, bed and all the machines together. The tables and chairs had all been removed due to a severe lack of space, even if the hall had been made to be able to contain more than 500 people when needed. Really, it was only because some of them had to come with nearly everything in their hospital room that it was like this.

Each minute felt like an eternity to every of them, since a new member that was not promoted during the official Anbu exams was rare, and the promotion of an entire team was unheard of, even for the chuunin or jonin exams. Since the Anbu exams was at least 10 times harder, no wonder why the current members were so curious, namely 2 Anbu captains and a rather new member with a moon mask who was clinging on her black-haired friend who dragged her from her bed where the medics had confined her. Well, seems like this one didn't think of bringing all the furniture.

At one minute before the deadline, no one dared to even talk; at the last 30 seconds, most people even stopped breathing as they feared that they would miss something. An outsider would think that this is way too much for a few new members, but considering the situation, it was not really that unexpected. Second after second went by as the tic-toc of the clock resonated in the hall, and when the big pointer of the clock finally showed 5 hours 59 seconds, all signs of movement stopped. A fraction of second later, they began to feel a slight breeze, and suddenly, two giant swirls of fire appeared in the room, causing the Anbu to tense and some to move back a step. One was red while the other was black, a rather strange color for fire. Surprisingly, not even a scorch mark was on anything near the twin tornadoes, but even then, no one dared to approach what appeared to be fire shunshins. After a few tense seconds, the fire slowly died down, revealing two people wearing the full Anbu uniform minus the brown coat. But what had caused the gasps was not the fire. No, it was far more than that: it was the uniqueness of their uniform. Instead of wearing white armors and bandages, theirs were completely black, the material glowing in an eerie fashion in the shadows where they were standing. A hood was attached to their cloths to hide their hair. But the biggest part was that, contrarily to everyone, their masks were not painted with the usual colors that indicate the rank of the Anbu: red for normal Anbu, black for team specialist like medic-nins, and purple for Anbu captain.

The masks were plain white, and the simple view of those more than emotionless figures sent shivers down the spins of more than a few Anbu. They all knew what this meant; those people, whoever they are, are so powerful that the Hokage gave them the exceptional title of Independent Anbu: they can leave when they want, their rank is equal to the Anbu commander, and, on orders of the Hokage, they only take missions of A-rank or higher, which means that they are aware of every secrets of the village, have free access over any of their files and has the right to sentence anyone to death without having the Hokage's approval. This also means that those people are absolutely loyal to the Hokage; in the past, only 2 people had met these conditions, and even they had left the position after a little bit over two years, which is the normal surviving rate of the Anbu members. So seeing two of them at the same time was like a gift and a death sentence: if they do things right then perhaps they will get a promotion, but if they mess up and if those people are as cold-hearted as they appear to be, then they are as good as dead.

The Anbu commander though was looking at the situation in a more professional way: he had been told of the situation yesterday by Hokage-sama himself, and if what the old man had said was anywhere near the truth, then they had just earned a huge advantage in the war. On the other side, if these two turned out to be traitors, then Konoha was doomed. What was the Hokage thinking anyways, re-installing these power-houses in the Anbu faction so fast? Surely he could have started by registering them as jonins, test their loyalty and then let them climb up the ranks by themselves. Nothing could ensure that they stayed loyal to this village after all this time. After all, they did leave for more than 5 years. And in 5 years, a lot of things can happen. Who knows, maybe they already had sold information to the enemy. Well, only time can answer his questions, so for the moment, he decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.

When he looked back at the two Anbu, he realized that he must have spaced out longer than he thought, as they were already in front of him and staring straight into his eyes; he normally wouldn't allow this comportment within his men, but this is special. Looks like he'll have to get used to it since the two don't seem to be stopping anytime soon. The one on his left looked at his partner and the other nodded. Well, at least he knows which one is the leader as he doesn't have anything to difference them. They both looked at him again and bowed in a silent demonstration of respect, which he immediately responded to by bowing himself. Better not anger them if his earlier observations were anything to go by.

Then, in another wordless agreement, then turned their backs to him and removed their hoods, revealing black hair and shocking blood-red hair, all tied in twin ponytails. A small gasp was heard, but no one paid any attention to it. The one with red hair then moved his hand, placed in on his mask, and to everyone's shock, removed it in a swift movement but still keeping it in front of his face. Everyone's attention was on him, all waiting for him to lift his head so that they can see his face. And after a few seconds where everyone was holding their breath, he finally let his blank mask drop to the floor.

And all chaos broke out. More than a few had a violent reaction to _her_ appearance when they realized that this powerful individual is actually a kunoichi. Only then they noticed the few curves that males don't have, not hidden at all by her cloths and armors. She had a very young face, a few strands of her crimson hair hiding the left side, and her visible eye was a vibrant blue that reminded a few Anbu of someone, though they cannot pinpoint who it exactly was. The Anbu captains caught more than a few appreciative glances from some of their unmasked subordinates, but chose to not say anything.

And then, the remaining mysterious figure chose to drop the bomb: _she_ also removed her mask, revealing black eyes and a pale skin that actually had a healthy color despite the whiteness. Her face was emotionless, though some can see something akin to a frown on her delicate lips. If looked any closer, anyone would be able to see a haunted look in those charcoal eyes, as if she was already a war veteran despite her young age. No, it was far worse: they actually looked like she already had both her feet in the grave only to be pulled out by something. The eyes of someone who knew death like her backyard. And the same thing can be said about her red-haired teammate; only this one chose instead to hide her pain behind fake happiness.

'_Well, this surely is going to be interesting,'_ thought a silver haired Anbu captain. He had decided earlier to keep his mask on even if everyone knows his identity by now, if only for the sake of formality.

But all the commotion was cut short when a scroll suddenly popped out of thin air and landed in the waiting palm of the black haired kunoichi. She opened it, looked over it with an extremely calm expression on her face and then passed it to her teammate, who wasn't so shy to show her concern by a sudden shocked look. The Anbu commander saw the Hokage seal on the scroll and understood that they had serious business, so when the two turned to him with a questioning gaze, he nodded. That apparently was the only sign they needed, as they immediately disappeared in two tornadoes of fire.

Discussion broke out the second they left, and the commander, seeing he has nothing to do here anymore, prepared to leave with a shunshin, but before doing so, he glanced at his hand. There, lying in his palm was a folded paper that reads _'Mirai'._

He smiled and left, never noticing the two Anbu who stood behind him.

* * *

''Koto-chan, I swear it's her, I'm sure of it! It has to be! I mean, her hair color is the same as mine, you saw it too! And her face shape, it's the same as my mother, and the way she was standing and...''

Mikoto listened calmly while she sipped her tea that the owner of the stand had brought. Excellent tea, so to speak. ''Kushi-chan, you were not standing right. Beside, who said it was not someone else? It's not as if red heads are common, but I've seen more than a few in my life.''

''But still! I've only ever seen that kind of bright shade in my family!'' the Uzumaki immediately retorted.

Her best friend simply sighed, used to the red haired woman's tendency to jump to conclusion. After all, they had practically grown up together.

''Kushi-chan, let's just forget that for a moment and enjoy your ramen, ok? You can still ask the Hokage after if you want...''

That remark had the wanted reaction on Kushina: noticing her precious ramen cooling, she immediately began to inhale her food as if she didn't ate in a lifetime. Well, ramen is not exactly available in a hospital, not that the nurses will ever allow it. Mikoto smirked slightly over her victory; her friend had forgotten all about her suspicion that the new Anbu being one of her clansmen. But the Uzumaki did have a point: the black haired girl looked too much like an Uchiha for her liking, an Uchiha that she didn't know. And as the heiress of the clan, there wasn't a single Uchiha that she didn't know, at least by face. An illegitimate child? It seems like she will have to investigate soon, and why not answer some of Kushina's questions on the way? But for now, she has other things to do, she thought, as she saw her best friend order another bowl of that unhealthy thing she calls food...

* * *

Meanwhile, 30 minutes after the big commotion in the Anbu headquarters, two shadows were running at a fast pace in the forest around Konoha. They were Konoha-nins on their first official mission, an S-rank retrieval mission according to the scroll they received. They knew it was to test their abilities, as they can clearly sense another shinobi following them, always keeping a 30 meters distance.

'_Cleaver, but still not good enough. Just far enough to not be treated as a threat but still close to be able to follow without too much difficulties.'_ the taller shadow thought.

Naruto was tempted to speed up just for fun, but a look from Sasuke dissuaded her. If it was an ally, then better keep him close for this particular mission where the risks of it being far more than what they anticipated was pretty high. On these kinds of missions, it was much better to be safe than sorry. Especially when you have the feeling that the Hokage didn't give you all the details you needed to know.

Right now they were going in the direction of Kumogakure, where a small village should be located a little bit south of the enemy hidden village. They will have to be extra vigilant as the two villages are not exactly on good terms right now, and they will probably have to travel during night where it will be easier for them to hide from patrols. They should be able to arrive at the border in 2 days, 1 day less than the average, retrieve their target and be back in 2 weeks. If they are not back by then, they will be declared MIA. Not the most challenging mission ever, but good enough for a start, and if the information was correct, then this mission will be crucial for Konoha's survival. For Naruto's sanity too if her expression was anything to go by.

The first two days went by quickly; they would stop around 5 in the afternoon, eat what they can find which is usually fish or an occasional deer, take a 2 hours break, then continue until 4 in the morning. Then, they will stop near a river, find a suitable tree and sleep for 5 hours while one of them will stand guard for the first 2 hours and the other for the remaining time. Years of war had made the two young kunoichi paranoid about pretty much everything. They had to stop a few times to let their pursuer catch them since both of them were going at a phenomenal speed, actually Naruto was surprised that he's still hot on their trail. She was almost tempted to use her special jutsu to go even faster, but decided against it as it would not be fair to the pursuer, who she was almost sure was a Konoha-nin, perhaps Anbu. Hell, if back in her time Kakashi had trouble keeping up with her without his sharingan and was still listed as a S-class shinobi, and this person was still following them, then he must be very around the same level as Kakashi.

The third day went around pretty quickly, and at the end of the day, they arrived at a small village where their target was last seen. This is the best place to start. They immediately began to ask around, all in their mission cover: two sisters looking for their cousins. Not the best cover ever, but sufficient for the mission, hopefully. At midnight, they found the trail they needed.

It seems that since a year ago, a rich merchant had been passing in this village every once in a while, and he was almost always guarded by shinobis from different villages. The second day, he will always come back alone to buy some tags and exchange money. No one asked anything since his actions made their economy better than ever, but suspicions were starting to rise. Sasuke had managed to find an old woman in the streets who, having no ties whatsoever, was not afraid to tell them the entire story.

A week ago the same man came again, this time with three Konoha shinobis, the first he had brought with him. Before, it had always been the minor villages like Waterfall. There seemed to have been a fight in the hotel they were staying at, but after 10 minutes or so things have calmed down so no one said anything about it. At this information, Sasuke frowned. It's no good. If this man always came the second day to exchange money, then it means that he does his dirty work at night. There had never been a fight before as he always paid for shinobis from small villages where the level of skills was pretty low compared to bigger villages. But this time it had been a Konoha Anbu team, which means that they couldn't have gotten captured unless... that's it! Poison! In the mission scroll it said that the only medic of the team was absent due to her occupation at the hospital, so it was not impossible that they had been surprised by an odorless poison. Obviously they didn't give out without a fight, but those kind of poison are always strong, and without a medic they were as good as dead. Since the merchant wanted them alive their lives are at least safe for now. But for how much longer?

Naruto proposed that maybe they are still at the merchant's base since he couldn't have sold them yet because of the patrol that went through this village 3 days ago, and Sasuke agreed. Now they have to figure out where the base is. It can't possibly be too far since the man did not have the money to built a huge base only for himself, and did not have the men necessary to transport all the people. So they can conclude that he does his dirty business in this village right under their eyes. But where can he hide? For that, they went to a drug store and looked around, and they luckily stumbled on a map of the village that Naruto insisted on buying. As they went over it out of boredom (in Naruto's case), they found 8 identical houses that were placed at strategic points around the village: two near the gates, another behind the public school, two one street away from the biggest hotel where the fight had broke out and three other around a few well known restaurants. All perfect places to hide someone if needed and all close to a way of transport. Sasuke didn't say anything in the process and let Naruto do the thinking; she was still amazed at the amount of luck the dobe had.

They decided to act next night. Each will produce 7 solid clones and infiltrate each base. They will advance from there, taking over each base and then dispelling until the base with their target was left. Then Naruto and Sasuke will take care of that one. It should not be too difficult, they just have to keep it silent to not attract any attention: they were way too close to the enemy shinobi village for their comfort. They signed in for the night in a small inn and rested as best as they could.

Next morning, after a short shower and a breakfast eaten at the inn, they went around the village to try to find more clues. Naruto, predictably, went first in a dango shop as there was not any ramen stand around, much to her sadness. But dango will do the job too.

''Nee-san, 3 sticks of Mitarashi dango please!''

''Coming soon!'' said a young girl around her own age, with purple hair in a high ponytail.

She got comfortable and waited, and as she had nothing to do, the Uzumaki began to look around. She actually did not choose this stand randomly: it was because she sensed a familiar chakra signature that just begged for her to check out. It felt so familiar, the signature felt as if it was longing for something special, a feeling she knew quite well, and yet, it felt distant, like the person is hiding from the world. It smelled of mud and rain, and paper if it was even possible. Just as her dango arrived, a woman around her age entered the shop. When Naruto saw her, she froze. Not out of shock, but out of a mix of fear, sadness and happiness. Because the woman had blue hair with a white paper rose in it and an Ame hitai-ate tied loosely around her neck.

Because this woman is the Angel of Amegakure, Konan of Ame.

* * *

**Longest chapter ever! Consider this as an apology gift.**

**PLEASE review!**


	11. Chapter 11, Encounter

**Chapter 11: Encounter**

**A/N:**** My grandpa just got out of the hospital after a cancer and 2 days after he was hit by a car. I didn't have the chance to talk to him since he's in China and had been in the hospital since then, but I hope I can do it soon. From what I heard, he has a broken leg, a few fractured ribs, a rather serious cut on his forehead after shattering the window of the car that ran into him and another broken bone that I don't know the name in English. My dad says that he may not be able to walk again.**

**So I'm kinda very sad right now...**

**Also, I will be updating one a month, since I'm being overwhelmed by school assignments.**

* * *

_Because this woman is the Angel of Amegakure, Konan of Ame._

Everything suddenly seemed so far away, so distant. The townspeople talking excitingly, the sound of merchants calling out to adults and their children hoping to sell some of their commodity, the laughter of gossiping old women, and in the distance, some little kids running around, playing with wooden swords... it is as if her senses were clouded by a thick mist, covering the world and painting it grey. The only things she can see, feel, hear, is the young woman in front of her.

She had not expected to meet Konan so soon, and seeing her old enemy-turned-friend again, this time as a young woman with an untainted innocence so unlike the fierce woman in her memories, was quite a shock. The blue haired woman looked at her with confused amber eyes, like a cat would watch its reflection in the water.

Naruto suddenly had the urge to hug the woman, both to convince herself that this isn't an illusion and to tell her how sorry she had been, how much of a failure she was, how she had wanted to be there, and how much she regretted to have left her out there on her own, in that place that had been drenched in blood, where crimson rivers had tainted the muddy ground a dark scarlet.

But came the sudden realization that this woman is not the one she once knew, that this woman is not the sister she had lost, and that she will perhaps never be able to apologize for her betrayal. Oh, how much she wanted to tell her that she shouldn't have died on that rainy day, that things were not supposed to happen like they did! It was with much struggle that Naruto, at the last moment, prevented a sob from worming its way out her dry throat. She can feel the moisture in her eyes, the droplets of salty water that she was barely holding back and the aching pain in her chest, the pain that made her heart constrict until only grief and emptiness was left. This time, she promised herself, again and again, this time I will make things right.

A sudden cold gust of wind entered the shop by the opened door, green leaves dancing gracefully in the air, a paper flower being carried away by the breath of nature.

The strange girl and Konan locked eyes, their red and blue hair flowing in the wind like fire and water, and the Uzumaki cracked a smile, one full of hidden regret and sorrow, and her muttered words were lost in the breeze.

Eyes the color of gold widened and pink lips parted in a silent murmur.

_Konan._

* * *

Somewhere else in the village, another Ame shinobi was wandering around, his bright orange hair attracting the attention of the already gossiping villagers. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, already feeling the beginning of a very bad headache.

The week had been weird and stressful for Yahiko: first Nagato had went pretty much crazy on him and their female teammate, blabbering nonsense for over three hours, then spent the rest of the day in their bedroom with the door locked, and two days later sent him and Konan to this country to look for a person with the only clue that he or she will recognize a message that Nagato shoved in his hand before he literally chased them out of their shared rundown house.

So he and Konan, not having much choices, decided to begin with the smaller villages, and he will take care of the northern part of Kaminari no Kuni, since his teammate's origami will be useless in the cold: she was still not good enough to be able to control the paper when it's half frozen, though she already began to be able to control a paper that was soaked and nearly decomposing to a certain degree. That situation had made the blue haired woman frustrated with herself, as she always felt like a burden to her teammates, even with himself and Nagato continuously telling her otherwise.

They had decided to start with this small village where they had less chance to be spotted by an enemy shinobi and separate in a day, after they get a general idea of what they should be aware of and where and when they will meet. They'll also have to determine how they will communicate, but that can wait for a while.

But unknown to Konan, Yahiko's more than confused state is not only caused by the weird behavior of the rinnegan user; it was because of the few words he managed to catch when he 'accidentally' spied on Nagato.

_Flashback_

_It had been an hour since Nagato had suddenly collapsed on the floor of their modest house, an old building that was barely protecting them from the never ending rain. Konan had been making dinner while he and Nagato were doing the laundry, the three of them just returning from an exhausting training session. When they heard Konan call them, they immediately dropped their chores and went to wash their hands, a habit they forcefully learned after a few 'dates' between their faces and a frying pan, courtesy of their oh-so-gentle teammate._

_Yahiko was chatting excitedly with Nagato, who was walking behind him, when he heard the familiar sound of a body hitting the ground. Alarmed, he quickly turned around with a kunai in hand, expecting some sort of attack, only to be greeted by the sight of his best friend lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious. Konan was already there, so they moved the red head in their shared bedroom, where a few kettles were placed all over the place so that the rain falling from the ceiling will not give anyone a nasty surprise in the morning. Nagato woke up after around half-an-hour, his rinnegan unfocused and glazed over. He soon began to mutter something under his breath, but Yahiko didn't pay it any attention._

_Konan left the room and came back a minute later, a hot bowl of soup in hand. She put it on a small table beside the bed, and they left, as they can't do anything to help. They knew that when it has something to do with his rinnegan, they better leave him alone or they will suffer the consequences, not that they like to leave their friend alone._

_Now, Yahiko was getting more and more impatient. They already finished eating, and he just took a cold shower, as the pipe that connects their bathtub to an underground hot water source broke again: this had irked him, since he wanted to relax his sore muscles from the intense training session he went through earlier, not mentioning some of the bruises Nagato gave him. _

''_Yahiko.'' Konan, sitting on the other side of the kitchen table, suddenly said. Her tone had something ominous in it, and Yahiko subconsciously flinched under her stare._

''_Yes?''_

''_Do you prefer the floor or the bed?''_

_The question has startled the Akatsuki leader; why was she asking him that? No knowing what to say, he stared at the blue haired woman blankly, and she seemed to take that as an answer._

''_Good, because you're going to have to wait until Nagato gets better, since I won't have you bother him. I'm going to get some blanket, I'm sleeping here.'' She then left, leaving a stunned Yahiko behind._

_She came back after a few minutes, and the orange haired man silently watched her arrange the makeshift bed so she would be comfortable. She then lied down on the white blanket, and paused for a few seconds._

''_...Yahiko?''_

''_...''_

''_Please turn your head the other way, I'm changing.''_

_This effectively woke him up from his daze, and he blushed madly, almost snapping his neck when he turned too abruptly._

'Is she...is she actually asking me if I prefer to sleep on the floor or wait Kami knows how long to get on _my_ bed?'

_This of course only aggravated Yahiko's foul mood; he was too embarrassed to sleep alone with Konan, and he was too tired to wait to sleep. After another painfully long 15 minutes, Yahiko, who was still shivering from the shower and frustrated by his current predicament, finally let his anger get the better of him._

''_That's it! I'm going to check on that bastard!''_

_Konan lifted herself up, leaning on her elbows, and glared at him with menacing golden eyes._

''_Yahiko!''_

_He stomped off angrily, ignoring Konan's threat about a meeting between his precious thing and a bunch of her sharpest origami senbons. He stopped in front of the old wooden door of the shared bedroom, his hand already on the handle, only to discover that the door had been locked. Now seriously angered, he was more than ready to kick the door open, but he paused when he heard Nagato talking. His curiosity getting the best of him silently pressed his ear against the hard surface and listened._

''_That...not supposed...rinnegan...Kyubi...''_

_Flashback end_

Kyubi? He knows that name. Hell, anyone who didn't live under a rock for the past fifty years would know what that name meant.

Kyubi no Youko, the King of all demons, a gigantic fox that was said to able to destroy mountains and create tsunamis with a movement of a single of its tails. And the beast has nine of those, so the fear that often accompanies its name is not the least surprising.

But why would Nagato of all people talk about the fox? Old gossipers he would understand, but Nagato? And what did he mean by 'not supposed'? Did something involving the Kyubi and his rinnegan happen? Will happen?

''Argh, this is getting way too troublesome!'' he suddenly shouted, his hands pulling on his spiky orange hair in a desperate moment.

His outburst attracted some weird looks from the villagers, and in a shop that was on his left, a baby started to cry in the arms of his mother who began to frantically try to calm him down, and the father, having his peaceful dinner interrupted, chose to send him a harsh glare. He apologized sheepishly, and left as quick as he can. The second the angry parents got out of view, he bolted out of the plaza, not wanting to get into even more trouble, which would lead him to a very angry Konan. And an angry Konan is bad. Very, very bad.

It's without any doubt one of the most important things he learned after years of living together, ranking just after the very _short_ list of all the ways he can think of to escape her wrath. Really, the only thing good that came out of this woman's temper is that when she happens to be angry in a life-death situation, the enemy finds out real quick _why_ they should run for their lives. An irate Konan does not exactly control _where_ her hundreds of paper shuriken land. And for an unknown reason, they tend to strike where it hurts the most.

Yahiko shivered slightly at the unpleasant memories, and forced himself to think about something else. He decided to keep running, if only to enjoy the feel of the wind on his heated skin. Dodging villagers left and right, he eventually took a few sharp turns that led him to a system of alleys where most restaurants' back doors were, and he can smell the distinctive odor of garbage and cigarettes, as well as sweat and...eewww, he really didn't want to know what vomit smells like. So he took the wise choice of leaving quickly, but as he was to go back to the main street, he heard a muttered conversation nearby. And Yahiko, being the ever curious person he is, decided to head toward the voices, even if he knew that his curiosity had gotten him in far more troubles than he would have in the past; if only he remembered to be cautious in those situations.

So, going back toward the end of the alley where he was a minute ago, he found himself being able to distinguish a female voice, clearly annoyed, and three male voices. How the hell did he miss this? Following the sound of talking, he got lost a few times when the alleys took some unexpected turns, but he eventually got back to the place where he saw the drunken man throwing up. The volume of the voices told him that they were at the other end of the small street, which means that from their angle, they wouldn't see him even if he stands right behind them. He instinctively suppressed his chakra, and slowly approached the corner. He wanted to do this slowly, even if he knew that they couldn't be more than a few drunken civilians: somehow, he felt the need to be on his guard. Against what he didn't know, but he had come to trust his instinct with the years, and it had saved him more than once during some particularly difficult missions.

The three men smelled of alcohol, and he deduced that they must be harassing the young woman in their drunken stupor. He already stumbled into these situations once or twice in Ame, so he knew that he really should go help the woman by now, but he wanted to see how this will turn out. It won't hurt anyone anyways; he will make sure to step in before anything can happen.

The female looks young, around his own age, with a small built and waist-long black hair; her pale skin stands out even in the dark, and he noticed that something about her seems...off, for some kind of reason he can't find. And her eyes...

'_...I think I just saw her eyes flash red... but that's not possible, is it?'_ Yahiko thought, while rubbing his eyes.

But before he was able to glance again at the scene, a huge chakra blast sent him crashing in the wall behind him.

* * *

The wind finally stopped blowing, and I took a dango stick and offered it to the blue haired woman, who simply looked at me, her eyes clearly showing disbelief. She didn't take it, so I put the stick down on the plate. Well, there goes my hope of fooling her into thinking I'm a simple little civilian girl. Not that it would ever work anyway.

_I ran in the forest, the sound of my frantic heartbeats masking everything else. She was alone out there. I have to hurry. Why can't I go faster?_

None of us spoke for a minute, waiting for the other to begin the conversation. I can feel the waitress looking at us curiously, only directing her attention on the door on her left every 10 seconds or so. Well, I really can't blame her; if I was in her shoes, I would do the same, only with a lot bit more stealth. Then I decided that the awkward atmosphere definitely doesn't suit my current mood, and since I have nothing better to do, I reached for the white flower that was on the ground, lying a feet from where I sat. I touched a petal and I smiled slightly at the feeling of the familiar chakra. I carefully kept my face blank, willing the aching pain in my chest to go away.

''Nice to meet you, Angel of rain.''

_I suddenly smelled blood. A lot of it. As I approached the clearing, I saw scorching marks over rocks, trees, and in some areas, the earth was black, the plants burned long ago; kunais and shirukens were all over the place, and I nearly fell in some craters, obvious results of a few well-placed punches. Sakura-nee taught her how to do that, after all._

''Who are you?''

_I searched in the bloody piles of corpses, traces of _her_ everywhere. And yet, I cannot find her. I have to hurry, the rain is already erasing most of the blood, and I soon won't be able to collect anything to bring back since the mud will just destroy the scrolls. But then, as I turned a dead Sound shinobi on his back to see if there was anything under him, I saw in the middle of the pool of blood a lone paper flower, perfectly white in this macabre battlefield. My heart stopped beating for a second. Beside the flower was a dark piece of clothing, the edges obviously burned. I took it in my hands, and I immediately recognized the texture of the material._

I chuckled dryly at the irony of this situation. How many times had I said that in the past few years? ''I... I am Mirai.''

_I can't be... why? Why her? Why wasn't I only a minute earlier, maybe she would still be breathing then? Why wasn't it me? If it was me, I could have survived this... why?_

''How interesting, you call yourself Future? Oh, and I assume that 'Mirai' is just a title, not your name, isn't it?''

_On the ground where the piece of cloth lied was a Konoha symbol._

I nodded as an answer, not trusting my voice because of the memories. I never knew that seeing someone who recently died- in my time, that is- will be _this_ painful. Why does it feels like the tears will never stop, and yet I cannot bring myself to let them fall freely?

_It was a rule created at the beginning of the war by the Alliance to prevent the enemy from gaining critical information: when a shinobi is certain of their imminent death, they draw this sign to signal their decision to their comrades. The symbol of their village with the kanji for 'last'._

''I see. And do you mind explaining how you know of me? From what I know, Ame and Kumo are not exactly close to each other, and I'm still not that well known in my own country since I gained that nickname only a few months ago,'' Konan said, eyeing me carefully, narrowing her amber eyes.

_Suicide by fire._

I chuckled weakly, using the few seconds to compose myself. I placed my right hand on one of the many seals I have on my arms, the one located near my oldest seal on my wrist. I noticed Konan tensing, expecting me to unseal some kind of weapon. I could have, but I instead took out my Konoha hitai-ate, the one Iruka gave me long ago. Hokage-jiji game me permission to keep it, but he insisted on giving me a new one, even if I told him that I don't need it. I know that he wanted to tell me that way to live in the 'present'. Now that I think of it, if I kept it on my forehead during the battle against Madara, then the moment the Anbu found me they would have killed Sasuke and I, since we would be mistaken as spies. Well, looks like my luck came back with me.

Konan's eyes shone in recognition before narrowing again. She probably understood that I came from the same village as Ero-sennin and so I'm not to be considered as a threat, but she still does not trust me. Understandable with the third shinobi war that will begin in a few months, not that anyone except myself, Sasuke and Hokage-jiji know.

But for what we are going to do, I absolutely need her on our side, since if she's with us then Nagato and Yahiko's loyalty is almost certain as well. And I need that loyalty to save them from what will happen in the very near future. So I did the next thing I can think of. I relaxed, letting my eyelids close, and began to absorb the energy around us. The trees, the plants in the dango shop, the rocks, even the birds on the rooftop... I can feel everything so clearly while the soothing energy of nature entered my body, cleaning my chakra pathway and mixing with my own chakra. Not even 10 seconds later, I heard a shocked gasp and I smirked, opening my eyes. I feel so much more peaceful with the familiar sage chakra in my body, finally being able to sense everything around me without relying on my left eye that was currently hidden by my red hair.

''You-! How can you have that?!''

''Ero-sennin taught me.''

There was a pause as she stared at me as if I was crazy, until something clicked in her brain and she rudely pointed her finger at me, her hand shaking slightly. Well, seems like I kept that specific effect I have on people as well.

''Y-you mean... Jiraiya-sensei?''

If not for this situation, I would have laughed at her bemused expression. My lips twitched with amusement when she forcefully lowered her arm with her free hand, and she sighed, letting herself fall on the chair at the other end of the table.

''Let's say that I believe you. What is a Konoha kunoichi doing here? And...no, never mind.''

I can guess what she wanted to say: her face told me all I needed to know. I was again amazed at the differences between the Konan I knew and this younger version. The one I called sister was as talkative as a brick wall, when she was not around me and the Konoha 12, that is, and her emotionless mask was pretty much always on, making it difficult to read her; but this Konan, she's so easy to read it almost scares me. And at the same time, it means that she didn't see the horrors of this world yet, that she can still be saved from the 'future'.

''First, I know of you, Yahiko and Nagato because Ero-sennin has that bad habit of blabbering everything that's on him mind the second he's drunk. Why do you think he always only drink one bottle of saké every hour? To give the time his chakra needed to get the alcohol out of his system, of course. I'm here for a mission, and no, Jiraiya didn't send me. Actually the old pervert didn't contact me for a while, not that I miss him.''

That was a lie: I'm eager to meet him again, I'm just afraid of how I will react when I see him. I mean, how am I _supposed_ to react when the man who died as my sensei and not as the godfather he should have been is alive and not even aware of my existence?

''So you also are Jiraiya-sensei's student, huh? How is he?''

''Alive and kicking. He took on a gennin team a few years ago, and after they became chuunin he went back to travelling to...well, you know.''

Konan nodded to show she understood. ''Well, I'm Konan of Ame, and I'm part of Akatsuki, as you probably already know,'' she began, ''and I'm here on a mission as well, one that Nagato- a teammate of mine- gave me. Yahiko is somewhere in this village as well.''

Well, that information was certainly not expected. Yahiko as well? Well shit, I didn't even think about how to deal with him yet. I can't exactly tell him in his face that he will die and because of it his best friend will become a worldwide criminal can I? I mean, yes Nagato became my friend at the end, but hey, Nagato did kill around three quarter of the population of Konoha before he decided that he should resurrect everyone.

Konan was about to say something else when the wall behind us suddenly exploded, and the blast would have killed us if I didn't grab her and leap out of the way a millisecond before. I just had the time to push her behind me before I felt something extremely heavy hit me, making me fall. I'm not too worried about it: I had much worst during the war, namely when Madara decided that it would be a great idea to try to bury me under the Hokage tower. I can say that it was _not_ pleasant. After the smoke dissipated, I instinctively enhanced my muscles with sage-chakra and pushed the pillar currently crushing me to the side with my arms. Konan was lying a few feet away; she was unharmed, but a debris must have knocked her out if her motionless body is any indication.

I stood up, and the sight that greeted me almost had me throwing up my breakfast.

* * *

At the same time, in Konoha, a young chuunin was sparring against a shadow clone in the backyard of his house. He was sweating, his dark clothes not helping him at all, and his mask made breathing difficult; but he would never remove it, no matter what others say. He jumped in the air when his shadow clone threw a few shurikens, and the clone ran at him, trying to punch him while he cannot dodge. But the young chuunin grabbed the fist and used the clone's momentum to kick him in the head, successfully sending the clone in a tree and making it pop.

The boy ran a hand through his messy hair, and began to collect the few dozen kunais and shurikens his clone had thrown at him. he arranged them neatly in the pouches attached to the belt on his hip, and began to stretch. He didn't want to have sore muscles later, since he ran out of the healing balm he always use after training yesterday. A few minutes later, he walked back toward the door of his house, wanting nothing but a cold shower, only to feel the ground shake violently, almost making him fall.

He heard the dishes in the kitchen break, and he understood. An earthquake would have sent him toppling to the ground, and it certainly wouldn't cause the series of explosions that he can hear going off in the village.

Konoha is under attack.

* * *

**A/N: Hey, do you guys know that the Naruto series will be ENDING ****in a week****? I feel like I'm leaving my baby behind even if I'm not even married yet!**

**And please review! I mean, yeah I have more views each chapter, but why is the reviews decreasing?**


	12. Chapter 12, The White tiger

**Chapter 12: The White tiger**

**A/N: ****Sorry for the wait, my 'college' is going crazy with all the exams the teachers are giving us, and the Christmas exams are coming as well, on top of the regular tests we have, which makes 6 exams this week. I realize that I'****ve been late in my updates since a few months ago, but... well... :/**

**I do not own Naruto in any way, I only own this story and my OCs!**

* * *

-Kakashi-

_Konoha is under attack._

Well, that thought made Kakashi pause. Because no matter how well trained he was and how much experience he has - for a chuunin as young as he is - he was not expecting _this_. Konoha is powerful; extremely so, since she came out victorious of two major wars with little casualties. Powerful enough so that her name is taboo in most hidden villages. So he never even considered the possibility of a direct attack on the village, because it just isn't _possible_, and it has nothing to do with the fact that he's a 10 years old chuunin, even with eyes and a mind that were too old for his body. Someone may argue that overlooking something like that is quite foolish, but who can blame him? He is not a war veteran after all. Not yet anyways.

Perhaps he overestimated Konoha's power; perhaps it's because this had never happened before; perhaps it was because he was under the delusion that, even in a war, they cannot be attacked. Or it was simply because of the fact that, with over 400 experienced sensors and trackers posted everywhere from Fire country's borders to the deepest part of the sewer system right under the headquarters of Root, no enemy could _ever_ get through. Yes, he was aware of Danzo's Ne's existance, since a few months in fact: he had taken to the habit of sneaking into his father's study in the few nights sleep seemingly forget him, and he happened to stumble upon a scroll with detailed information on Root and all the places Danzo left fingerprints, ally or not. His father had done quite the spying he must say. He knew his father was aware of his little visits, but the man probably trusted him to not go into potentially dangerous scrolls; and he was right seeing as Kakashi had pretty much dropped the scroll the second he realized what it meant. The Hatake heir was by no mean stupid: he knew that he was nowhere powerful enough to be able to protect such crucial information if an enemy ever got him. He wonders if Danzo, the old war hawk as everyone calls him, knew that his actions were not as hidden as he thought they were.

'_But now is not the time to sit and ponder on such trivial thing,'_ Kakashi thought with a fierce scowl,_ 'because it is now my job as a chuunin of this village to protect her and her villagers.'_

And he may be not the best at defending, but Kakashi knew he was damn good at attacking.

The young teen disappeared in a soundless Shunshin, never noticing the black shadow silently following him.

* * *

-Sasuke-

She was annoyed.

She had been woken up by the dobe way too early for her taste, around six in the morning, and she knew that Naruto was aware that they both had fallen asleep around four; even then, they had too much on their minds to be able to rest peacefully. Even if they both were more than capable to go without sleep for about a week, thanks to a certain Uchiha ancestor of hers, she certainly was not going to pass such a good chance to rest, or any other chance so to speak. The dirty yellow of the walls and the stiffness of the beds were certainly not helping, but since it's already way better compared to what they had during the war, Sasuke was not going to complain. Sleeping on the ground or on a tree is not exactly what she'd comfortable all year long after all.

Naruto had immediately started to jump around, carelessly tossing cloths at Sasuke and telling her to hurry up, something about being impatient to go eating. The woman looked happy, the sunlight reflecting on her now bloody red hair; but Sasuke knew better than to believe the facade her Hokage, no, her _friend_ put up; she knew the dobe better than anyone after all, perhaps even more than Hinata because of everything they had to go through together (the raven winced at the memory of an encounter between her chidori and the chest of her superior), and she can recognize that glint in her friend's azure eye anywhere. A glint that she sees in the mirror every morning. They were eyes that had seen war, the black side of the human heart; eyes that had already gone too far, too far into the bottomless abyss that is insanity to ever hope to come back again.

'_But again, madness is the thing that allowed us to ever come this far without breaking...'_

Beating those depressing thoughts back into nothingness, Sasuke continued to practice her Uchiha scowl on everyone who dared to do as little as look at her. Then there is the fact that she was forced to disguise herself as a _civilian_ woman, and she almost put on a Henge - the one Naruto invented in her youth, only toned down quite a bit - out of habit only to realize that she didn't need one anymore since the...change. That realization hit her hard, and she was almost tempted to pull some of her now ridiculously long hair out; but as a dignified Uchiha, she will never do that. Why can't she just sneak around in her shinobi attire? She's good enough to be able to supress her chakra signature to almost non-existent, and the dobe knew it; no, she had to put on those uncomfortably tight _civilian_ pants – that were called jeans, if she remembered correctly – that wouldn't even let her place a good kick without tearing the material, and high heels that just begged for her to break – how can anyone walk straight with those anyways? And worse of all, the dobe had the nerve to laugh at her... slight discomfort. At least the idiot shut up after she threatened to slap a silent seal on her mouth for the rest of the mission.

And then, just as her pent up anger was about to burst when she couldn't get into any shop without men leering at her and jealous wives glaring holes in her skull, those drunken bastards who are not even worthy of the dirt on the ground she walks came and tried to get a feel – and as a hopeless _civilian_ woman, she cannot do anything but to allow herself to be led in those disgusting alleys that stink of vomit. Oh, what satisfaction she would have when those idiots will be lying on the ground, crying and begging for her mercy!

She chuckled madly in her mind, and an evil smirk grew slowly on her face as she realized that no one will see what she does to these men. Just a little bit won't hurt, not for her anyways, and Naruto wouldn't mind if the dobe didn't know...

And, well, she also can't deny that she she felt slightly smug over the fact that her good looks remained, what with all those past fangirls turning into fanboys. She now only had to hope that her once fanboys (and there were quite a few of them) won't turn now into fan_girls_... yuck.

Now, putting aside all that useless thinking, Sasuke knew better than to let the tight control on her chakra go. She had something called 'chakra field': it was the result of the giant chakra reserves she had. Instead of flowing smoothly like a river in her body, her chakra was more like a wild whirlpool; to avoid chakra overload, she had to transfer a certain amount of it into something else every few hours. It had not been a problem on the battlefield as she had been throwing massive chakra consuming jutsus around, but it became a huge disadvantage when it came to hiding and escaping Madara: it was almost better than to paint a huge target on her back. So she had to constantly redirect her chakra outwards, creating unintentionally a sort of barrier that extends to a few dozen meters around her. It allowed her to completely supress her chakra for a few days since she have that way a lot less chakra to control than normal (her definition of 'normal' is slightly different though). On top of that, it boosted her sensing range to more than a mile and allowed her to practice her chakra control 24/7. The only drawback is that when she's not supressing her chakra, the chakra in her body and the chakra in the field will combine and any chakra blast higher than jonin level will cause an immediate collision between the two and create an explosion able to level any village in a few seconds. Useful on the battlefield but not so much right now.

So it had been dealt with the moment Naruto had been able to move, precisely the third night they spent in the hospital after their return. She had put a chakra storing seal on them both and activated it to level 16 for Sasuke and 25 for herself. No matter how evenly skilled they were, the loud redhead still had tons of chakra in extra compared to Sasuke's already more than massive reserves. The raven was of course not going to complain as she experienced firsthand how troublesome it was to manipulate all that while trying to waste as little as possible. But even with the seal they both chose to keep a toned-down version of chakra field around them: they were after all not going to lose such an advantage. Oh the pleasure she would have when she would see the surprise on her enemies' faces as their own chakra explode in their faces...

Yeah. And no one ever told her that she was slightly sadistic.

So, because of all those things that are going to give her a headache sooner than what she'd like, Sasuke squashed the idea of releasing her control the second it appeared and kicked herself mentally for even thinking about that. The Uchiha was about to tell the men off when she suddenly sensed a huge chakra blast coming her way, distracting her from the drunken men surrounding her; her eyes widened and she managed to jump a few feet back a millisecond before the wall a few meters from her collapsed suddenly, followed by the sound of an explosion that made her ears ring painfully. Sasuke, like most shinobi, had enhanced hearing, and her senses were considered to be one of the bests; so if she didn't instinctively send chakra to her ears, she was sure they would be bleeding very, very badly, not to mention that if that blast collided with her chakra field when she had it at full power, the explosion would probably destroy the entire village and a bit more.

She knew something went wrong. Awfully so, because the chakra signature accompanying the blast is way too powerful to be normal; it contained so much...anguish and guilt that it made her dizzy and slightly weak in the knees. The raven knew instinctively that it belonged to her target: after all, this kind of situation happens almost every time an Anbu mission jumps from A-rank to S-rank. She had to hurry: she has to stop whatever is happening, since it can't be good; Sasuke knew that her own chakra gave off a similar vibe for a major part of her life, and for another person to have it... she didn't want to know what happened to the poor guy. But then, as she extended her sensing range, another powerful chakra source, this once familiar, hit her and she would have smiled if not for the current situation.

As the villagers began to panic, Sasuke swiftly knocked the confused and drunken men out with a quick chop on their neck. She didn't have the lux to waste time with them anymore. Not with the unconscious man under the collapsed wall that she knew isn't supposed to be here. She'll have to take care of him quickly if she wanted to be able to help Naruto with whatever is going on.

* * *

-Naruto-

So much anguish. So much suffering she can sense... so much that she can smell it in the air, the guilt and the helplessness almost making her choke. It was painful. So much worse than the unworldly potent killing intent of the Juubi. Her left eye hurts, and the urge to use its power was becoming overwhelming, just like every time she feels threatened; only that this time, it was because of the sickening fear and pain that assaulted her senses. The still form in the midst of the destruction was the source of that suffering; she can barely see anything past the light screen of smoke surrounding him, not fading unlike the dissipating smoke around her.

She can tell that the being was powerful; every fiber of her being screamed it at her, telling her to escape if only her legs would move. The smoke around him had a strange golden color, almost like the golden dust that caused so much fear during the yondaime Kazekage's reign; but the being was anything but dangerous, or at least had no ill intent against her, his chakra flow told her that. No...he was calm, and a little bit sad. Nevertheless, beads of cold sweat still ran down her back from the nervousness she felt as the being's scarily imposing aura brushed against her own impressive presence. His was commanding, as if telling you to bow down, unlike hers that was warm, welcoming with a hidden dangerous edge. She cannot see him, and yet she felt minuscule compared to the mysterious being.

The almost ethereal golden glow around him made her left eye itch even more, and before she can stop herself, she opened it and the world around her immediately shifted: the left side of her vision became black and white, and everything suddenly became so much _more_. Naruto grunted when she felt her chakra storing seal being forced to release a few levels, since using this power seemed to be extremely taxing on chakra, even more so than Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan; reacting to the sudden augmentation, the invisible chakra field around her almost doubled in size in a matter of seconds. She really should have expected it. She can now hear the wind, feel the low grumbling of the earth, and most of all, see the life energy swirling in the air with the wind and slowly flowing in the ground, small tendrils of it within every plant, rock, and animal. It wasn't chakra. No, it was completely different yet similar, as if chakra was _part_ of it. Even sage mode can't compare with this. But something felt wrong, different from the few times she has called upon this power. As if... as if there was something missing, something she couldn't pinpoint.

However, the beautiful view didn't last long as the vague and familiar form of a man entered her vision.

'_When did he get so clo-'_

'_**Kit!'**_

'_K-kurama?'_

'_**Kit, this isn't the time to space out! Focus, dammit!'**_

'_What were you doing?! You didn't answer any of my calls since t-'_

'_**KIT!'**_

Surprised at the sudden outburst, Naruto only had the time to register the fact that Kyubi cut their connection before another violent chakra wave sent her tumbling to the ground. A small gasp escaped her lips and she closed her eyes, knowing that the slight daze caused by the abrupt disconnection with Kyubi will prevent her from reacting fast enough to cushion her fall. But the impact never happened.

The Uzumaki cracked an eye open, and she was met with the view of a powerful chest. Her other eye snapped open in surprise as she felt an arm around her waist, preventing her from falling. Mismatched eyes widened to impossible size as the man smiled at her, the expression almost alien on her target's face. Amused amber eyes stared back at her.

''_Pleased to meet you, Onee-sama.''_

* * *

-Kiba-

The famous Anbu capitain was pleasantly surprised. At first, when Hokage-sama assigned him this mission, he almost refused despite never having turned down anything before even if he had the right to do so, in fact he could have for anything under S-rank. And this mission was A-rank, but the Hokage had insisted on its importance for the village. Kiba knew that it could damn well have been anyone else that got chosen; even a fresh jonin would be able to do this job! But no, Hokage-sama had to choose him and end his well-earned vacations a week in advance, vacations that he had neglected the past few years no matter how his teammates had insisted. He scowled at that thought: he had counted on this week to finally do some very late father-son bonding with his boy - no, not boy anymore, no one can still be a kid after becoming chuunin. But Kakashi will always be a kid in his mind: he was his little, adorable Kashi, after all. Well, his and his wife's, who had been gone for several years already.

The mission scroll said that he was supposed to keep an eye on the newest – and highly unusual – pair of Anbu, follow them anywhere they go, missions included except if told otherwise by the Hokage himself: it was just a shinobi assessment blown out of proportions.

So, as any at least half-decent shinobi should do, he began by observing silently. His first impression of the duo had been a good one: they were powerful, had unworldly chakra reserves that even hurt to look at, and in no way wet behind the ears since showing off their abilities seemed to not be a problem, what with that grandiose entrance; yet, they somehow managed to not give any information at all. No one learned anything that can be used against them, other than the gender, approximate high and appearance, and even then they could have been using a Henge like most high-leveled shinobi do. The Anbu Headquarters had been chaotic after their leave – questions were flying around, and not a single answer was heard. They were good. No, _more_ than good. Really, there's bets going around within Anbu on nearly everyone's true appearance: the less the other Anbu know about you the more respect you earn, and Kiba can say that the newbies will definitely find that part to be a piece of cake. It is a pity that the Hunter-nin don't have that kind of relation between them, because they probably would be less stuck-up bastards if they did. But again, the rival organization is quite the complete opposite of what the Anbu are.

Then, when the unpainted masks were dropped, he felt, to his own confusion, surprise and, dare he say it, _fear_. Surprise for the deceivingly young features and fear of their abilities – what kind of monster could reach the rank of Independent Anbu at what seemed to be less than twenty years old while he, one of the strongest shinobi in the Elemental Nations and on par with the Sannin, hadn't even been asked to take that position? But what shocked him the most were the eyes – empty, almost lifeless eyes ones as young as them should never possess. They were not only eyes of veterans who had seen more than enough war and lived to tell their stories; no, they were more. Those eyes were icy cold, the warmth that once resided in those beautiful orbs lost to uncountable bloodshed and cold bodies, the will of fire still burning deep inside but hidden to the world. They were eyes of survivors who had lost everything dear to them. Kiba shuddered at the memory of those cobalts and obsidians: he had seen those eyes only once before in one of the perhaps most memorable encounters that left him at death's doors, and they still haunt him to these days.

He has to admit he was interested in the duo, especially the black haired one: the raven had made something stir within him, a feat that few people had accomplished. While the redhead had been fierce, commanding and standing out like a sore thumb, the other had been silent and calculating, emitting a dark and powerful aura. She was to be the one working in the shadows, standing as the supporter of the other; however, her eyes seemed to have a glint that said otherwise, almost like a predator that waited in the dark for her prey to approach. It's that slight contradiction that attracted him: just what was she? And the leader of their two-man cell, what in her made this black panther submit so willingly?

They were strange, he decided. Strange and interesting.

A few minutes after the sudden departure of the duo, he was summoned to the Hokage office for an urgent meeting and he learned that he was to leave immediately with the new Anbu squad for a retrieval mission in the land of Lightning, mission which he shouldn't interfere with under any circumstance. It was supposed to last a bit more than two weeks, leaving him exactly two days before he'd have to go on another mission, a diplomatic one that had been decided on a few weeks ago. He had been grumpy at the news: he had hoped that he still had a few more hours to at least see his son before his duties began, but no, his targets just had to get a mission the second they make their presence known to the world. And he had no idea how such powerful individuals could have lived for so long without their name appearing on the Bingo Books of every Nation.

At that time, he didn't know what awaited him.

A few hours in the travel, his bad mood all but disappeared. The sheer speed they traveled at amazing: he swore he was running almost twice as fast as his usual pace, which was already grueling for most newbies. If it continued like this, the normal 3-4 days travel will become a two days – no, 36 hours travel! But then, just as he began to feel the urgent need for a break and, if possible, to get his porcelain mask off and _breath _for a second, he had to sense them slowing down only to go even faster; the first time he didn't understand, the second time rose some suspicions, but the third time it happened he almost laughed out loud at his own stupidity. They were waiting for him – yes, they were waiting for the great White Fang of Konoha to hurry up! Oh, he's going to show them what he's capable to do even if it tires him so much he wouldn't be able to move for a week afterwards. And by the looks of it, it would probably be pretty close to the truth.

Grinning tiredly behind his mask, Hatake Sakumo sped up as he felt his targets slow down. But even then, he didn't learn the lesson that the Hokage should have beaten into his skull the second he was assigned to the two time-travelers.

Always expect the unexpected.

And so, when the two chakra blasts came, respectively from an unknown factor and Naruto, his normally quick reflexes abandoned him and his small chakra field exploded upon collision, sending him flying into the forest and knocking him out when his head met with a not-so-gentle trunk.

* * *

-Naruto-

What. The. Hell. Just. Happened.

''_Pleased to meet you, Onee-sama.''_

No. It just... isn't possible. It can't be.

Sister. He had called her Sister.

Her target had just called her sister. After he caught her. In his arms.

...

Oh Kami.

Really, where is that bloody teammate of hers when she needs her?!

And so, with really nothing else to do, her brain decided to freeze and so she was stuck staring into his amber eyes. The man was... beautiful. Yes, Naruto knew that 'beautiful' is not what you usually call a guy, but she really can't find any other word to describe this unearthly vision. Unlike the photo she was provided with, his golden hair was waist-long, slightly wavy and no sign of spikes anywhere and two long bangs framed his effeminate jaw. Honey-like orbs framed by thick, long lashes stared back at her, an amused glint dancing playfully in them. His build was obviously one of a shinobi, sinewy muscles clearly showing behind his tattered clothes. Naruto frowned however when she saw specks of blood on the black material, barely visible to the human eye; but she had her doujutsu activated, and so she can clearly see the fresh blood on his shirt. Now that she pays attention, she realized that it was made from a mixture of tissue, mesh and steel, a special combination original from Konoha, as well as the Anbu tattoo proudly displayed on his left shoulder. Now thoroughly convinced of his origins as well as his identity, the kunoichi relaxed in the man's solid grip, still able to draw weapon at a moment's notice but less prone to turn someone to a pincushion at any second. But what happened to him? Naruto, in all the previous encounters she had with him, had never seen this side of the blond man. Now confused and wary, the kunoichi craned her neck to glare at her target, only for her brain to screech to a halt again when an unfamiliar symbol appeared on his forehead; it was glowing white, somehow not hurting her sensitive eyes, and it looked like a white tiger of some sort standing in front of a disk that reminded her of the rising sun. Seeing her dumbstruck expression, a smirk appeared on the man's exotic features.

''_Something wrong, Onee-sama?''_

''Ok. Explanation. Now,'' She commanded, ''and don't you dare lie because I can see right through it and I have more than enough weapon to spare.'' Her threat must have been lost on the man, because he only chuckled before releasing his hold on her. Now that she wasn't stuck in an awkward angle parallel to the ground, she realized with pride that the man was only around a few inches taller than her. He gestured for her to sit, but then, seeing as she wasn't doing so, sat comfortably on a chair that miraculously survived the explosion. His eyes met hers, as if searching for something, and Naruto calmly stared back. He let out a long sigh, and the redhead noticed that the previous golden dust surrounding him had disappeared.

''_I shall answer your questions, but keep in mind that some things are meant to remain unknown,''_ he began softly, _''that Mother will give you what you need in time. And that,''_ he looked sharply at her, _''what had, is and will be said and seen here cannot get out no matter what.''_

Naruto seemed to hesitate for a moment, her eyebrows furrowing in deep thought. ''I agree to these terms,'' then, she stared right back at his amber eyes, ''but I have to be able to inform my teammate, and possibly the Hokage or Jiraiya of the Sannin if the situation demands it.''

''_In dire situations only.''_ Naruto nodded. _''But I'll have to ask you to inform me first.''_

''How? I know for one that you're not 'naturally' in that body, and I can't exactly go into 'your' mind since that would just destroy it, my techniques are not quite as refined as those of the Yamanaka clan,'' she inquired, shifting so that her hidden chest plate don't press painfully into the healing bruise on her back.

''_Well, you will find out soon enough. You see that symbol?'' _he pointed his forehead, _''This, is going to be very useful in the near future. It's all I can say.''_ At Naruto's disappointed look, he chuckled and his shoulders shook slightly with the movement. _''Now don't look like that, I said that it would all be explained soon, and it should already have started by now if your eye is any indication. Now hurry Onee-sama, we're running out of time.''_

Not questioning his statement for once, the kunoichi silently activated a small seal on her earlobe and began. ''I'd like to know your identity for one and your origins if possible. Then why did you choose this 'body' and your purposes here. I can sense that your essence is clearly different from a human's, so I would appreciate an answer for that as well.''

''_Eager, huh? Onee-sama is still the same,'' _he smiled a little, almost fondly at her, _''and yes, that would also be explained later. Now, I am what you call a Kami, but you see, I'm not complete,'' _he crossed his right leg over the other, _''because I'm only one third of a greater being, the Golden Heart, the third part to be exact. I believe that Father is called Izanagi by you humans, and Mother is Izanami. You see, when the Energy – something akin to chakra, but acting more like the source of all Life - had been split into Ying and Yang, Three realms had been created: the first one is the realm of the Gods, Takamanohara, the second one is the Universe of Humans and summons, and the latest one is Gehenna, or as humans call it, Hell.'' _He paused a little to see if she followed. Hecontinued when he saw her eyes fixated on him, urging him to talk.

''_Each realm was given what we call Guardians. For the first one, it's obviously Kami-sama, and while that term applies to all of us, it also designs the Great, the One we all came from, and that is the first being formed by the Energy. Two of His children were sent here, Izanagi and Izanami, and they became the Holy couple of this realm, giving birth to all of us. After their task of creating the world as you know it, Izanagi split himself into three parts so that each one will hold one part of his power to balance out the Energy of Mother. Mother's first task as the Goddess of Creation and Death was to kill 1000 people while Izanagi created 1500 new lives, all of that daily; however, as the only Vessel of the Energy after the Great Kami, it soon became too much for her to handle. So she split her power between her children, and so was born Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun and Creation, Susanoo, God of the Tempest and the Sea, and Tsukuyomi, Goddess of the Moon and Death. Since that day, while her children worked on maintaining the order of the world, Mother withdrew herself in a faraway forest of this world and watched us from afar, providing the Life energy necessary to this world. At least, that's how things have been until a few hundred years ago.''_

''So you are basically a part of a Kami. Interesting, but that still doesn't explain why you are in my target's body,'' the Uzumaki woman stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

''_You are correct. You see, when one of us want to stay in this world for an extended period of time without going back to Takamanohara to replenish our lost Energy, we have to choose a Vessel,''_ Naruto tensed at that word, and the man waited a little bit for her to relax again, _''who has to be able to handle our essence. Also, instead of a sealing process you humans seem to favor, we go through what we call Rebirth, where we have to pass through a womb.''_

''A...womb? Like, you get in someone's womb and-''

''_No, no''_, he quickly shook his head, _''it's nothing like that. We just let our energy flow into Mother, who gets 'pregnant' with it and 'gives birth'. In fact, she just infuses Life energy with our essence to allow us to stay in a Vessel's body. You see, we Kami are not born the same way as you humans, so we do not have the Life energy that makes you mortal; therefore, we need to go through the same process as you did to be able to 'synchronize' with the Vessel enough to not be expelled by the body. The womb is just because it's the quickest and easiest way to do it,'' _he explained.

''I-I see. So... right now you are not 'you' but your Energy, like a Kage Bunshin, right? And when your vessel die, your Energy goes back to you 'body' and you become 'you' again?''

''_...Yes, I guess you can put it like that, it's just that our consciousness actually travels with our Energy instead of duplicating it like Kage Bunshin does.''_

Naruto nodded again to show she understood. ''Okay, that's all good and stuff, but what are you really doing here? You can't make me believe that all this was 'just on a whim' like snake-teme says.''

''_I'm afraid I cannot answer that yet. You shall understand however when the time will come.''_

''Always have to wait...'' she grumbled under her breath. ''Well, can you at least tell me your name? Just so I know how to call you if you ever decide to pop out again.''

Amused by Naruto's choice of words, a gentle smile appeared on the blond kami's face, but disappeared as a sudden fit of coughs hit him. Naruto looked at him worriedly, but he just waved it off. _''It's okay... my time is running short.''_

''Naruto.'' The redhead suddenly said, offering her hand to the man.

''_Huh?''_

''Uzumaki Naruto. My name. And yours?''

''_...Shiro.''_

''Well then, nice to meet you _White_!'' the Uzumaki redhead said with a big, goofy grin and was going to laugh at her own joke when Shiro suddenly swayed dangerously. Her grin fell in a second and she didn't have time to think as she rushed forward to catch the man's body before it lands awkwardly and break something. After all, this is the body of her target, and she was supposed to bring him home safe and alive, not with a broken arm that happened because of her inattention. Groaning at the sudden additional weight, she blinked when her hand didn't feel the expected silkiness of the man's long hair. Surprised, she looked down only to find a pair of confused ocean blue orbs staring back at her mismatched eyes.

''...Kushina?''

* * *

-Kuro-

She was Kuro. Kuro, the third leader of Pandemonium, the Mask of the Underworld, the Bloody Shadow, the assassin, the killer of a thousand. She was the Silent one, the harbinger of Hell, feared by all human and demons. She wasn't Yomi, the despicable, the traitor, the filthy half-breed. The daughter of a mere human and a Demon lord. Not while she was under this mask, not while she was under this coat; no, she was Kuro the masked. She was the blade in her hand, the black blade that danced with deadly accuracy; she lived for the blood that was shed, the warm, red liquid that was on her tainted hands.

Adrenaline rushing through her body, trembling in ecstasy, she raised her sword and brought in down in a slashing motion, cutting through yet another body. Blood spattered her mask and grey shinobi sweater; she lost her coat when a blazing fireball was launched not so gently at her. Sweet, sweet blood that had painted her white mask pink and showered her in crimson rain. The coppery scent that always send her into euphoria, sinking her into the deep and warm waters of Lethe. The lovely metallic taste that makes her feel alive, that sends delicious shivers down her spine and that makes the fight all the more enjoyable. She was happy. For now, she would enjoy the feeling of not knowing and savor the sweet cries of mercy of her soon-to-be victims. She didn't have to think. She was just a broken war machine that no one had use for. And it was okay, as long as she was happy.

There was simply no time for regret.

But she knew that once this is over, just like any other time, she would return home, battled and bruised, and wanting nothing more than to scrub all the blood off her body. She didn't need to taint herself more than she already did. It was disgusting. She knew that she would be grieving for the people she had killed, and she would feel disgusted with herself. She would call herself a monster, and perhaps cry herself to sleep, if she ever sleeps. But it would be later. Now, she just needed to do. She was Kuro. Kuro. Kuro.

She just needed to kill.

Blocking a kunai with her black sword, she ducked under a pathetic swipe of a tanto. Thrusting the pommel of her sword back, it connected with the stomach of a kunoichi, and not wasting a second, she brought her left leg backward to kick the woman in the chest, breaking a few ribs and puncturing a lung. The momentum lifted her in the air, and twisting her body to dodge a volley of shuriken, she kicked another shinobi in the face and managed to slit his throat before a young shinobi grabbed her ankle and used her own momentum to fling her toward a tree. Pretty impressive for a rookie, but still not good enough. Her body reacted on its own and instead of her back, her feet attached themselves to the tree with chakra and used it to propel herself back into the battle, and this time landing on her free hand, she did several backflips and slashed another shinobi across the chest. A familiar gurgle sound came out of the man's opened mouth and he fell to the ground, motionless and dead. A well-aimed kunai from behind almost hit her in the shin, but she grabbed it and flung it back at her assailant; however, the knife seemed to be stuck on her hand, and she tsked with annoyance as she saw the exploding tag attached to its handle.

''**Doton: Doryuha!''** yet another shinobi yelled in the distance, and Kuro immediately teleported herself to him. Driving the kunai in the soft flesh of his abdomen, she detached her hand from the handle with a small lightning bolt and teleported out of the way just as the man screamed in pain, his jutsu collapsing due to lack of chakra. The explosion was astonishing: it blew a hole 20 feet deep and 35 feet wide, and the blast created a few more cracks on the outer walls of Konoha. They had obviously planned to kill her with that attack. Smirking behind her mask covered in blood, Kuro looked around only to discover that the explosion had taken out most of the shinobi. Pathetic. Quickly slashing the throats of the stunned survivors with her sword, she whipped the black blade on a kunoichi's clothes before picking up the equally black scabbard that she had thrown at an enemy at the beginning of the fight. Looking back at the village's enormous gates, she gently shook her head and disappeared in the shadows of the trees.

Her shadow clone had just been dispelled, and she wasn't going to let her charge wander around alone in this big mess.

* * *

**A/N: Ok, longest chapter yet with 6,308 words, not counting the apostrophes and author notes. Yeah, think of it as a very late apology to you guys for always being late in my updates. Well, Happy Christmas, Happy New Year and just for you to know, my resolution for 2015 is to be less late in my updates! Oh, and is the fight scene okay? It's my second time writing one... XD**


	13. Chapter 13, Regrouping

**Chapter 13 : Regrouping**

**A/N :****So, this time I won't be sorry for the VERY late update, as I just lost my USB key (again) and this time I actually know where and when I lost is. This is what happened : I was kicked out of the computer room in the school because there was a class that the teachers apparently didn't inform me of, and so I had to wait around 45 mins. to go back, only to realize that I left my USB key on the table when I left the room. Since the teacher was still there and didn't hear of someone finding my key, it was probably taken by someone. Since I had all the assignments of my entire life it it, I had to re-do everything from around 4 months ago, and so I simply didn't have time to write. ****At all.**

**Disclaimer : I do not own the characters of Masashi Kishimoto-sensei in any way and form, and I do not own the few latin quotes that will pop out here and there. I however own the plot and the Ocs, as well as the description of some places and the characterization of some less-known characters in the original anime/manga.**

* * *

-Sasuke-

When she finally arrived at the presumed battlefield, Sasuke was hoping to see a fight, at good one at that. She also anticipated a confront against Kumo-nin, as the battle wouldn't have gone unnoticed with all the powerful chakra waves that were unleashed, not to mention that Naruto had apparently forgotten to hide her chakra signature during her fight : that had to have alerted the enemy as efficiently as a flashing red light in the middle of a forest. Sasuke always mentally prepare herself for every outcome before a battle. She did not, however, expect to stumble upon something that _looked_ like a typical battlefield after a combat: dust was in the air, pipes and rocks littered the ground, but blood and dead bodies are nowhere to be seen. For Kami's sake, she couldn't even sense the bloodlust that usually radiated from Naruto!

Well, that had been what she thought at first glance.

But Sasuke wasn't stupid, and so she stepped into the field of destruction. Quickly scanning the area, she noticed that something even more important was lacking: the presence of another person. So either Naruto had lost and the enemy had escaped, or they were somewhere under all this wreckage. The fact that both could have left so to cause minimum damage to the village was also a possibility, but in that case, too much is needed to be put under consideration. Deciding to assess the situation first and recover anything that may lead Kumo-nin to Konoha, she stepped carefully over water pipes that were still leaking the precious liquid, mindful to erase her trail with a quick sweep of lightning chakra, turning over rocks here and there. Five minutes later, the raven began to feel frustrated. She found nothing: no weapon, no traces of poison, no torn cloth. It's as if nothing had happened! But then, something in all the depressing grey caught her attention: a sliver of blue, hidden behind a huge mount of debris. She quickly ran to the site, relieved to have finally found something that may save her from boredom. Pushing painstakingly the largest rock to the side, Sasuke froze at the sight before her. Hair as blue as the sky, coat black like the night, familiar patches of white and red across the simple design. Amber eyes stared back, and then, nothing.

* * *

-Naruto-

She smiled sadly at the man in her arms. She finally felt… complete. Unlike so many times, he was not a dream; not a simple illusion created by her shattered mind. For once, he was real. Alive and he was _right_ _here_. It felt unlike any other thing until now. It hurt… yes, it hurt, but she was happy, and she would enjoy this moment as long as it lasts. The man shifted, and Naruto realized that since she had caught him somehow awkwardly, his arm was crushed under his body and his neck was at an uncomfortable-looking position. The Uzumaki slowly moved her arms, careful to not touch any injury, and cradled the shinobi so that his head rested against her stomach and her own legs supported his weight. She managed to hold him in a position that prevented his back from touching the ground, since dirt in a fresh wound wasn't exactly what they needed. She can only stop the bleeding for now, her basic knowledge on medical jutsu limiting her abilities as a healer. Through the entire process, the man had scrutinized her, seemingly taking in every detail that could indicate her origins.

"You…who are you?"

"Namikaze Minato, age 19, shinobi code 53163908, Anbu code-name Hachidori, reported MIA since last week. Is that what you wanted to know?"

"You-!" Naruto guffawed at the panicked expression on his face.

"Hai hai, I was just teasing you. This place is safe, no need to get alarmed. I already placed a concealing seal over the place so that it would look to the villagers as if the explosion never occurred. It would not work for my teammates or yours, as they were keyed earlier into the seal. Now, I'm from the retrieval team Mirai from Konoha, shinobi code 55000003, code name… don't have one yet. As for my name, you have the figure it out yourself!" Minato silently raised an eyebrow almost elegantly, and Naruto sighed.

"Fine, fine. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet ya!"

_'Her shinobi code begins with 5? She must be Anbu then, so where is her mask? She said that she didn't have a code name... yet. What does that mean?'_

"Nice to meet you. I'm Minato, though you already know that. But more importantly than greetings, you just said that I was declared MIA? How much time had passed since I left for this mission?"

"I would say… around 6 weeks. I know that you remained in Konoha for a month after your last retrieval mission, which is about 3 weeks from now. You departed a week before the mission to exchange a scroll with Waterfall and then joined your team halfway on the journey about a month ago, as your weekly reports claimed. Since travel from Konoha to Kumo takes a month at a civilian pace, you had 2 weeks of travel before your capture. We are Wednesday, and you usually send your report Saturday, which we haven't received. Hokage-sama immediately sent me and my teammate here. So yeah, that's pretty much what happened," Naruto answered.

Minato nodded to show that he understood, but hissed at the pain that shot up his spin, and his back arched slightly from the unexpected sensation. Naruto immediately pressed her cold palm to his neck, and the tense body began to struggle under her grasp.

"Don't move!" the Uzumaki hissed out through gritted teeth. "I'm trying to help you, so lie down and. _Stay. Still._" She did not bother to explain that if the connection was broken before she could remove her chakra from his system, it would run rampant without someone to control it and it would literally fry his nervous system, which would end his shinobi carrier in a matter of seconds. Well, no need to make Minato tenser.

Minato intelligently chose to do as he was told, and waited. Suddenly, he realized that the cold sensation wasn't only on his neck anymore: now, from the palm pressed on the nape of his neck, an icy feeling ran through his muscles like water. It was something new to him, as he rarely let anyone touch him anywhere higher than his shoulders. Call it paranoia, it is justified by his dangerous career. Unlike what he thought, it turned out to be quite nice, and he quickly found himself relaxing under the gentle touch. Unfortunately it soon came to an end, and the hand was removed from his neck. Minato, opening his eyes that he didn't remember closing, felt somewhat dazed. He closed them again, wanting to enjoy the peaceful moment for a while, and he distantly heard a chuckle above him. The cold sensation returned, but this time, instead of resting at the same place, moved from his forehead to his chin, then over his pulse, and stopped over the junction of his neck and shoulder. The cold just felt so good on his heated skin. He head a soft sigh, and from the small vibrations he caught through his clouded mind,the girl was laughing again. Too late did he realize that the sigh came from him, and that made him snap open his eyes. What was he doing?

"Relax, I'm here." Naruto murmured into his ear. During the few minutes of her 'massage', she had changed their position so that she could bend over easier without the man's head pressing into her stomach. Minato flushed at the soft brush of her breath against his earlobe.

"Y-yeah..." He trailed off, not sure if he should say something or just keep quiet.

"Here." The redhead handed him something, and taking it in his hand, Minato took a few seconds to deduce that the hard texture indeed belonged to his Anbu mask. Kami, had he been so out of it that he forgot one of the most important rules of the Anbu? He glanced at his savior worriedly, wondering if she would keep it a secret or if she would spread the news that the youngest Anbu captain had lost his mask on a mission and forgotten to put it back on. Naruto looked back, and she say the worry in his clear eyes.

She simply pressed her forefinger to her lips, and Minato knew then that he can trust her from now on. Twisting awkwardly to get into a sitting position, he turned his back to Naruto and attached his bird mask to his belt, not bothering to put it on as the other person already knew what he looked like. He passed a hand through his dirty blond hair, feeling the blood that remained stuck in the blond locks.

'_Not too bad, just a few bruises and cuts, except for the sword slash on my back. Well, at least the bleeding had stopped. I wonder how Inukami is fa- Inukami! Where is she? Where is my team?'_

"Uzumaki-san! I need to leave. Now!" he said and attempted to stand up, only to fall right back on his behind. Cursing himself mentally, he clenched his fists angrily and swallowed his groan of pain. His body screamed a him, telling him that he cannot move yet, but he _has_ to. His teammates' lives were submitted to him the second he became their leader, and he would go to hell before he let any of them go to waste.

"_Ira furor brevis est,_ Namikaze-san." At the soft call, Minato tilted his head. She was right: his anger will lead to nothing in his situation. Taking a few deep breaths, he forced himself to calm down and cleared his thoughts. Unclenching his fists finger by finger, he allowed the warm summer breeze play with his hair for a few moments. Looking back at the Uzumaki, he scrutinized her features for a sign of _something_, but all he saw was a disconcerting calm, as if she didn't care. Her posture was relaxed, her hands in her pockets, and her _blue blue blue _eyes told a story of their own as if they were alive. She knew something, he realized, and his anger all but dissipated. Naruto then offered him her hand, and he gratefully took it, pulling himself up.

"Thank you, Uzumaki-san. Your advice is much needed, and it is always pleasant to meet a fellow fan of old lore. But I am curious: how come you have such knowledge? Much time has passed since the glorious days of old, and only a few lines remain nowadays. I myself had to look into some very precious and ancient collections to find such fine verse." Minato inquired while glancing around to get a feeling of his current location.

"No need to be courteous here, Namikaze-san. Naruto is fine. I know how much of a hassle it is to talk to dignitaries, and fortunately, I am not one. As for my knowledge of the ancient language, well you can say that it is a family tradition. My clan was old, and our archives date to thousands of years back. I am just one of many that had the chance to spent countless hours in our library."

Minato accepted the simple answer, since it was normal for clans to keep track of things that were lost during the many years of history. His own clan, as small as it may be, also has several scrolls an ancient times of wars and peaces, all yellow and dusty but still readable.

"Then please, call me Minato. And do not expect me to drop the formalities until you do as well, Naruto-_san._" The blond stared at the Naruto sternly, trying to prove his point, but the faked seriousness didn't last long and both let out a small, contained laughter.

They both managed to recover quickly, having no heart to amusement in the current situation. Suddenly, Minato's shoulders tensed again, and he slightly looked at his right, then looked back at Naruto. She simply nodded. He furrowed his brows, and Naruto saw his fingers slip into his kunai pouch. Soon, small tapping noises reached them, and while it was almost not noticed, the footfall was undeniably heavy, as if an unseen burden was being dragged. A dark figure appeared between two columns, steadily approaching them. Minato readied himself for an attack, but was interrupted by a loud cry beside him.

"Ooooiiii! Konan! Sasuke! Right here!"

'_Allies? Well, it is way better than Kumo-nin. Now I'll just have to hope that they are relatively normal.'_

The dark figure turned out to actually be two separate people, and they waved back just as enthusiastically at the call. Their figures were hidden behind a massive rock, and it was probably also because of it that they didn't notice each other until now. Both skillfully jumped over it, and now that there were nothing to hinder Minato's sight, he realized that both were much nearer than he had thought. The taller one had blue hair that was hold up in a loose bun with a white rose, and a black coat decorated with white clouds and an incredibly high collar hid her form. The other one had midnight black hair in a high ponytail and was surprisingly dressed in civilian clothes, but Minato saw a mesh shirt through the few tears of her black jacket. The two kunoichi approached at a steady pace, but as they got nearer, Minato noticed the taller one was leaning heavily on the raven.

'_The raven, she has something... strangely familiar,'_ Minato thought.

Naruto ran toward them and gently removed the blue haired kunoichi from Sasuke's strong grip. The redhead murmured something in her ear, then looked back at Minato; the Uchiha's eyes widened slightly but didn't say anything. Instead, she helped Naruto carrying Konan to a relatively clean space sheltered from the sun by several wooden posts, and laid her jacket on the ground. They lay down a protesting Konan on it, forgetting Minato's presence.

"I told you, I'm fine! I had only been caught in the explosion! Look, I'm not even bleeding!"

"You're _not_ fine! You were knocked out by a table! A freaking table made from the best kind of wood! Wood that shinobi usually use as training dummies, I must add!"

"Exactly my point! It was _wood_! Not stone!"

"Still! You could have gotten a concussion or something! Right, Sasuke?"

"...what she said," came the bored reply.

"You...you traitor!" Naruto was going to continue, but she was interrupted by an awkward cough.

"Hem... Naruto-san..."

"Oh, that's right! Minato-san," she started, "this is Konan. Konan, this is Namikaze Minato. He's our target."

"Nice to meet you, Konan-san. An this is...?"

"Ah! This is Sasuke, but I believe you've already met, no?"

Minato frowned. The raven sure looks familiar, if only he could place it...

"The cave," Sasuke suddenly said.

'_Cave? Let me see... cave... a cave... Ah!'_

"You mean you were the one with the chokuto? In that forest a few months ago?" Minato asked disbelievingly. This cannot be the same person! He remembered that the person he rescued was bloodied, bruised, and her injuries were so bad she almost hadn't survived the first 24 hours in the hospital! No one, even with Tsunade's aid, could recover _that_ fast!

"Minato-san, please do not judge a book by its cover; I am much more than what I let others see."

"Sasuke, this is not the time. We still need to plan out your teammates rescue and we only have an hour or so before the sun sets. If we want to act this night, then we'd better start now, " Naruto stated. Something flickered in Sasuke's black eyes, but it soon vanished and she sat down beside Konan, who gave her a questioning look.

"Now if you don't mind, can you brief us on your capture, the enemy's identity and such so we can know how to proceed next, Minato-san?"

The Anbu captain gave a nod and sat down.

"Yes. Our mission was to escort a wealthy merchant to this village, where some Kumo nin will then take him into Kumo. We traveled at a steady civilian pace with minimum contact with the client, though our travel was slightly delayed as the client insisted to spend a day in a minor trading village on the borders of Fire country. Our team was composed of me, Inukami and Taka, and our medic remained in Konoha to help out at the hospital. We arrived here two days before the meeting, so our target suggested us to remain here for the night. We didn't accept since our presence was much needed in the village and we would have been able to report back in a week's time; but as we were running short on food and water supply, we decided to eat at the hotel before leaving."

"You were running short on food? I thought that this forest would have been able to provide enough for an entire battalion for a few months."

Minato nodded. "That would have been the case in times of peace, Naruto-san. During wartime, many villages put toxin in the rivers on their territories to keep out invaders, and their water supply is extracted from the air and the moisture, or in the case of Kumo, Konoha and Waterfall, rain. That is why our mission rations were reduced dramatically since the beginning of the war, and we were forced to hunt many times during the travel to have fresh meat; but Kumo is big, and so is their wildlife. We cannot afford to stumble upon anything bigger than a cat here, and a cat is barely able to sustain a single shinobi for a day. We had to rely on what we brought, which is not much."

"That explains why I had some encounters with larger-than-usual tigers. I believe that you had a fight in the hotel, and Anbu-level shinobi normally wouldn't even have a scratch from that kind of fight, so why were you captured?"

"A reasonable question. I thought it may be the effects of some poison that they put in your food. I know that protocol dictates precaution against all food and liquids offered by anyone other than the Kage, so it must have been undetectable for anyone else than a skilled medic who, according to what you just said, wasn't present at the time," Sasuke added.

"That's also what I thought. I am not sure as I didn't feel anything except a slight tingling behind my eyes that I took for a minor headache. We knew something went wrong when Inukami passed out minutes after the meal, and Taka was able to detect traces of a liquid that smelled like ink in her food. As trackers have very keen noses, we couldn't say or do anything since the enemy would just say that it was the smell that knocked her out, but we definitely were alarmed. We were then attacked by the merchant's bodyguards who all seemed to have some shinobi training even if their movements were somewhat robotic. I noticed that I moved much slower than usual and my senses were duller. Most of the enemy fight with swords, but one of them had a crossbow. Taka was hit by an arrow on the arm and was soon poisoned. I was taken out when Taka was slammed into me and the enemy took the chance to knock me out with the handle of his sword. During our capture, Inukami had been delirious and her eyes were bloodshot." Minato lowered his head. Talking about it only aggravated his guiltiness, and he thought that he really should have been able to defend his teammates with his level of skills, poison or not.

"An odorless and colorless poison then, probably extracted from carnivore plants that secrets serum to slow their preys' movements. The ink smell must be a kind of signal, to know when to attack. The poison is harmless, but it will be better if we can have some sort of counter to it for the retrieval of your team. I am no medic, but I can manage something with the right ingredients. Sadly we don't have enough time, so I would advise you to dodge any projectiles instead of deflecting them," Naruto said. To quote Sikamaru, how troublesome. The poison wouldn't affect her of Sasuke since they both were immune to them thanks to Sakura who used to carry them with her anywhere and everywhere, but the same cannot be said for the others.

"What do you need?" Konan, who had remained silent until now, asked.

"I'm sorry?

"What do you need? I happen to be carrying some herbs with me, so I may be able to help. I also have medical tea and salves, and I'm sure we can find something in the forest if we know what to look for."

Naruto looked thoughtful for a minute, but soon turned her head toward the blue-haired kunoichi.

"I need some astragalus, preferably cicer milkvetch, bitter gourd, black cohosh, ginseng and hosetail leaves. Lotus seeds and summer savory tea will have to be prepared for Inukami as I fear the ink-smelling poison had been nutmeg, a natural insecticide that causes euphoria and nausea. Experiences also reported bloodshot eyes and memory disturbances. I know that medics from Iwa are able to treat it and turn in into a dangerous, lethal poison that causes death if not treated immediately, but I'm not overly worried as she was still alive by the time Minato escaped."

"I have most of them, except the lotus seeds and the black cohosh. I think they can be replaced by some marigold balm and thunder god vine that I have with me, though only in small quantities. As for the bitter gourds, I'm sure you can find them at the general market."

"Good!" Naruto started. "Can you give those to my shadow clone? She will have them ready by sunset." Right then, a small, golden-furred cat came out from behind a rock and sat down by Konan. A poof of smoke later, another Naruto was sitting with the group.

"Now, we need to find out your teammates' location. Sasuke?" At the call, the raven pulled a scroll out of a hidden pocket in her shirt and unrolled it, revealing a map of the village.

"This map is made for tourists, so it is much more detailed than normal travelling maps. You see these buildings?" Naruto said, pointing at several identical buildings that had a red cross drawn over them. "As you can see, they are placed at strategic places in the village. We are currently near the one behind the barbecue restaurant three blocks away from the hotel. We can forget that one as it is destroyed, so we have to target the seven others."

Minato studied the map for a few seconds, tapping his chin in deep thought. "I think we can cross out the one behind the public school since the enemy would not put high-risk prisoners there in case of a breakout."

"Right, then we might as well forget the one near the north gate since Kumo patrols pass too often there these days."

"That leaves us with five targets: the one near the south gate, the two near the hotel and two others near restaurants. We have Konan, you, Sasuke, me and my shadow clone. I suggest working in pairs, so we can each chose a target and I'll send a shadow clone with each of you."

"Are you sure? Shadow clones are pretty taxing on chakra, and to be able to make one or two is already impressive. But we are talking about six or more..." Minato inquired worriedly.

"Yes yes, not need to worry. I barely feel it when I make a hundred of them or so."

"Are you kidding? I remember you making more than a _few_ hundreds with a swat of your hand and still throwing massive jutsu around as it nothing happened," Sasuke said with a knowing smirk.

"Mayyyybe..."

Minato gaped at the comment. Shadow clones weren't dangerous for nothing: it divides your chakra in half every time you make one, so even kage-level shinobi cannot make more than a dozen at best without having a severe case of chakra exhaustion. But this girl said that she was able to make hundreds of them at the same time! That would not only takes monstrous amounts of chakra but also a powerful mind able to filter through all the information received after a dispelling. But he suddenly remembered the Hokage's words: the black-haired girl was the one he retrieved three months ago and she was confirmed to have massive chakra reserves while severely injured, so it wasn't that far of a stretch to think that her teammate would have the same advantage.

'_Yes, that must be it. Though I__'__m slightly jealous...'_

Yeah right. As if he'd ever be jealous.

"So it is decided?" Naruto inquired. A chorus of 'hai' answered her, while Konan came back with a few lighter pockets and a jar of mixed leaves and flowers.

"Then it's settled! Konan-san, you take the one behind the hotel, Minato-san, you take the other one near the same place, Sasuke, take care of the place near the south gate. I will take the one near the sushi restaurant and I will send a few clones to the last one. You will each be assisted by one of my shadow clone."

"Minato-san, you can take these back." Naruto threw something at the blond who caught it easily. Minato gratefully attached his kunai pouch to his belt and his supply of shuriken to his leg.

"I also took the liberty to put a few exploding tags, 3 smoke bombs and a pack of poisoned senbon in you shuriken pouch."

"Thank you, I was going to ask. Now, for that salve against the poison..."

"I have it ready, Namikaze-san," Konan said, holding the jar in her hand, "I just need hot water and a pestle to extract the essence of the leaves." That was taken care of when Sasuke gave the Ame kunoichi her gourd of water, heated it with a small Katon normally used for campfires and told her to improvise with the circle on the handle of a kunai.

"That said, we will go back to my hotel room and prepare. Sunset is in a few moments. We'll strike at midnight!"

"**Hai!"**

Naruto lowered the barrier she created withing the concealing seal and four blurs left the scene, disappearing over the rooftops.

* * *

-Konoha-

She was scared. Where was she? Where is mommy and daddy? Why is everyone running? It's so loud, her ears hurt. She was so scared.

"Mommy..." she sobbed, wishing to be anywhere else but here. She wanted to be in her bed. She wanted her mommy!

"Hehehe, look at what I found. A child! A cute one at that. Hey, look at me! Mister is not going to hurt you!"

She slowly opened her eye. A big shadow was on the ground. Her eyes met a pair of boots, then black pants. Looking up, a mister was smiling at her, but she didn't like him. The mister was scary, he had a scar over his left eye and something red was on his cloth. He smelled weird and his smile was too large.

"No... I want my mommy..." she whimpered. Something suddenly collided with her face and she tumbled on the ground, screaming. It hurt!

"Hehehe, what a beautiful scream! Let mister hear more, okay? Hehehehe! After you will find your mommy, in death, that is!Gyahahah-Argh!" The sound of flesh colliding with flesh reached her ears, and she rolled herself into a ball, her hands over her sensitive ears. She heard a curse, a metallic sound followed by a gurgle, then nothing. Is the big scary mister gone?

"Hey, you're okay?" That voice... it wasn't the big mister. Deeming it safe, she opened her eyes again. A boy older than her was looking back, smiling softly at her or she thought by the way the crease on his forehead disappeared for a moment. He was dressed in black, and a cloth was covering half of his face. However, the thing that caught her attention was his easily recognizable spiky, silver hair. Her mom had said that there were a super cool family with silver hair living in Konoha and that she should respect them.

"A-arigato, Hatake-san."

"You're welcome." She noticed that he stood in an odd way, his back to her and his legs spread in what must be an awkward position.

"Hatake-san?"

"Nani?"

"What are you hiding?" Kakashi smiled: this little girl is sharp for a four years old. She would one day grow into a fine woman, perhaps a future kunoichi if the kunai-shaped toy in her hands is any indication.

"Something scary. You don't want to know do you? Onii-san will protect you, so you don't need to know."

"Hai, On-ONII-SAN!" Onii-san was going to be hurt!

"Wha-" He didn't have the chance to finish, as pain erupted from his abdomen. Looking down and noticing the little girl's frightened gaze, he saw a fairly large wooden spike protruding from his stomach, blood dripping from the wound. Black spots began to dance before his eyes, but he still turned his head to look at his assailant.

"Thought you had me didn't you, brat? Hahaha, now if I go back Cadenza-sama will reward me for eliminating the Hatake brat and Tsuchikage-sama will promote me!"

"You... bastard..."

A maniacal grin appeared on the Iwa shinobi's face. Kakashi swayed on his feel, feeling what little strength he had left abandon him.

"Heh, the rumored Hatake brat is still a brat after all. How does it feel, having your life wrenched from your hands? Feeling like a failure, feeling weak? Tell me!" With that, he brutally pulled on the spike in his hand, causing it to be pushed further into Kakashi.

"Aaaaaaaaarrrgh!" A blood-curdling scream was torn out of his throat even if Kakashi gritted his teeth, and he soon choked on his own blood. As the white hot pain soared through his mind, Kakashi's vision went black.

The Iwa shinobi crackled in satisfaction. The Hatake is now as good as dead! No one can recover from such a wound even with immediate treatment. He would be rewarded and become the Tsuchikage's most prized shinobi, and he would never have to fight on the front lines ever again! Sensing a presence nearby, he formed the handsigns for his signature doton jutsu. He may let the little girl live to tell his tale, but he would not let anyone else alive. No one shall survive his wrath! He let out an insane laughter and began to mold his chakra.

Kuro snared behind her mask and quickly threw the severed head out of the destroyed building by a window before kicking the body behind her. The already traumatized girl didn't need to see more blood, she can at least do that much for her. That fool of a shinobi probably never saw it coming; he died before he could think of it. She had used a bolt of lightning to fry his brain which, by the looks of it, had liquefied instead, since she put too much power behind the attack in her wrath. The Iwa nin had dared to harm a girl, a little, innocent child. Talking about her, Kuro glanced at her to make sure she was not hurt. What she saw surprised her: the girl was staring right back, her big, honey-colored eyes full with unshed tears. Her light strawberry hair had a few patches of blood here and there, but none were hers, so no need to worry there. But the girl reminded her of someone that she'd rather not think about, not in this situation.

Kuro swung her blade in the air to get rid of the excessive amount of blood; she would take time to clean it later. Turning toward the Hatake boy, she swore under her breath: he was losing blood at an alarming rate, much quicker than she thought. Quickly running to his side, she sheathed her sword and passed her hand over his abdomen. He looked worse than he really was, since the blood on him was not all his. Good, she still had time.

Tearing the lower parts of her pants, she put the tissue in Kakashi's mouth. Looking around the room, she found a blanket lying on the ground. That will have to do. Counting to three in her head, she removed as fast as possible the spike of wood and pressed the blanket on the now heavily bleeding wound. A muffled scream was heard, but she paid it no attention: a single mistake could lead to the precious boy's death. When she was sure that the excessive blood around the wound was soaked up, she removed the blanket and pressed her hands on the injury, gaining a pained grunt from the body below her. She needs to focus. Slowly, small balls charged with energy formed around her hands, floating in the air. More and more appeared, until they were a good dozen, and they began to merge. Minutes tickled by, and Kakashi's body grew paler and colder. Finally, a single blue ball of concentrated energy hovered above Kuro's hands, who was sweating by now, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

'_Come on, just a little more... Damn it, I'm not letting him die even if it costs me my life!'_

"_Carpe diem_, Kakashi!"

Suddenly, a bright light enveloped her, and the glowing ball of energy passed through her hands into the gaping hole in Kakashi's stomach. Then, the light enveloped the Hatake as well, and small, soft, glowing white feathers appeared in the wound. They looked as if made of crystal, and Kakashi's pained face relaxed a little bit. The blood soon stopped flowing, and time seemed to slow down as the skin around the gaping hole seemingly began to stretch and grow, tendrils of blue light weaving through it as the injury closed. The small feathers melted into the wound and the skin continued to glow slightly for a minute before it disappeared inside the body. Kuro released a small breath: she had saved him.

She then inspected her charge: he looked okay, if not a bit pale, and the only mark left by the injury was a patch of white skin that she knows will never tan again. The skin was smooth, and when she delicately applied pressure, no grunt of pain reached her ears. Good, it means that the feathers had done their job. This was a trick only she can use. It was like a bloodline limit, only it wasn't entirely... human.

"Tenshi-san?" a small voice called her.

"Yes?" Tenshi? Well, that's a first.

"Tenshi-san... ano, arigato... and... is he okay?"

Kuro smiled at the small girl. She had a soft spot for kids, and this one is particularly cute. "Yes... onii-san is going to be okay." She then poked Kakashi in the ribs, causing him to groan. "See? Onii-san is still alive." The small girl giggled at her antics, and Kuro gave herself a pat on the back for a job well done.

"Tenshi-san? Your are an angel right? Are you onii-san's guardian angel?"

"Why would you think so?"

"Well I-I..." the girl stuttered, "Onii-san was hurt and you just, like, poof! And big mean mister is not here anymore. And then you helped onii-san with that light! And there were feathers, just like mommy said angels had! So, I thought..."

"Then I am an angel. Thought this will only be between us, okay?" The little girl nodded enthusiastically.

"I'm Yuki!" Kuro felt a shiver run down her spine at the name, but managed to hide it.

"I am Yomi. Now, let's get you to safety shall we, little lady?" She offered her hand to the young girl, but at the last moment a kunai whizzed past her head, cutting a small strand of black hair. Sighing softly, she turned toward the direction of the attack, a droplet of blood sliding down her chin from the scratch the kunai made.

"Yare yare, seems like we have company."

* * *

**A/N: Was it ok?**

**Ira furor brevis est: Anger is a short folly**

**Carpe diem: seize the day**

**REVIEW please! *Bow***


	14. Chapter 14, Flames of Desolation

**Chapter 14: Flames of Desolation**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Kishimoto-sensei in any way and form, and I do not own the few Latin quotes that will pop out here and there. I however own the plot and the Ocs, as well as the description of some places and the characterization of some less-known characters in the original anime/manga.**

**Warning: Mention of ****_torture_****. Nothing too graphic, but if you are not comfortable with it, It's at the beginning of section Inukami.**

**Sorry, this chapter is slightly shorter than the other ones.**

* * *

_Sighing softly, she turned toward the direction of the attack, a droplet of blood sliding down her chin from the scratch the kunai made._

_"Yare yare, seems like we have company."_

A shinobi stood before her, a kunai in a hand and a wakizashi in the other, his expression menacing. He wore the standard jonin vest, bloodied and badly scratched, his Konoha hitai-ate tied loosely around his waist, several weapon pouches hanging from it. Dark brown hair cut at his shoulders made him look younger than he really is; Kuro estimated him to have seen about nineteen summers. He wasn't all muscles and strength and hidden talent. In fact, he probably could have passed from a well-toned and trained civilian with his lean form and slightly tanned skin speaking of hours of training under the harsh sun, but he held his sword in a confident grip, just at the right angle, posture rigid but relaxed enough so that he can handle his weapon correctly. The young shinobi had something like a permanent frown on his face, but Kuro was too accustomed to that expression to be affected; but the too familiar expression brought a pang of guilt into her heart, and Kuro almost froze. She knew that face. The crease between elegant eyebrows, dark midnight hair and sharp eyes... no, she cannot allow herself to be distracted. Everything about him spoke of experience and age and _so much more_, but Kuro knew that he was only the standard jonin who has seen a thing or two in the war.

'_How much had they fallen_,' Kuro thought grimly, _'that being so wary, so experienced and battle-scarred at this age now seem to almost be normal.'_

She set her mouth in a thin line, frustration beginning to grow within her. She could kill him, sever his head from his body with a simple flick of a wrist, end his life painlessly in half a second, _she knew_, but she couldn't. She can treat him like all the others she killed today, and yet… because no matter what, this was not a friend, not an ally, but still not an _enemy_, and so is not worth killing.

'_And only human,'_ her mind added. She didn't despise them like most of those like her do. No, she respected them and was almost dangerously fond of them, because she knew such emotion would only harm them in the long run. Only human and those two words imply so much, weakness, pain, death, helplessness and aching memories that her kind thought long buried. So she left them alone even when she knew she was needed, never helping because she couldn't. She ran away, away from the memories and familiar places that held _so much_, away from the ones she chose to left behind, in fear to not be able to let go. A coward, _he_ would call her if he was still alive. And the painful loneliness only grew with time and her fame, along with the sneers and the glares and the hits. She had watched silently as her people warred, fought against those she wanted to protect, slaughtering and killing and laughing and _blood so much blood_ and she couldn't do anything, couldn't say anything. She was only a tool, broken as she is, and her words mean nothing to her people. _'Once, perhaps, once they may have listened. But now it is too late, just as I am with everything else.'_

"You! What are you doing here?" the shinobi asked. Weak he was in her eyes, but she cannot help but to allow her eyes to soften some more. Weak but courageous, and so much emotions, sensations that she cannot even begin to understand, not now, not again. He was nothing compared to her, and yet here he is, blissfully unaware of the danger he's in, demanding answer from _her_, from the demon, the monster.

"Me? Shinobi-san, you are a hundred years too early to demand answers from me. But I guess you are justified." One glance at the little girl behind her confirmed her doubts: the jonin had mistaken her as the assailant, what with the girl's still frightened gaze and the slight trembling of her little, smooth hands, not to mention Kakashi's very still form beside the girl.

"Do not lie to me, Iwa scum! Do not think that I'm too soft to strike you even with your hostage!" Ah, still jumping to conclusions. Kuro scowled behind her mask. Being called a scum was bad, really bad, and the shinobi would normally already have his tongue cut off from insulting her, but she cannot blame a man who was only trying to protect. Still, being affiliated with Iwa left a bad taste in her mouth, especially with _that man_ controlling Iwa's troops.

"Iwa? Oh please, as if I'll _ever_ bow before that cursed village," she snarled behind gritted teeth.

The Konoha jonin looked incredulous and a glint in his dark eyes told Kuro everything. A resigned sigh escaped her lips and she parried a volley of shuriken, forcing herself to not dodge to the side to protect the little girl behind her.

"Yuki," she started while throwing back a few kunai of her own, "run when I tell you to." The little girl, too afraid to answer, nodded and the small displacement of air caused by that movement transmitted her answer.

"And onii-san?" she asked in a small voice, almost inaudibly.

"Don't worry, I'll bring him back. Do you know where to go?" Yuki shook her head in denial, and she felt a little bit sad that she had to be protected this way when she clearly knew nothing of whatever is going on and what she should do. She should have listened when her mommy told her once what to do in case of emergency, but she had been too preoccupied by her dolls and her toys.

"Okay, then I want you to head directly to the Hokage monument. You know where it is, right?"

"Hai..."

"Good. Don't think of anything, just run there. Don't do anything if you see a friend or someone you know, because it will only delay you. Once you are there, there will be misters with that symbol onii-san has on his forehead to guide you. Okay?"

"Hai, Tenshi-san!"

Kuro tilted her head to the side, allowing her long hair to be brushed to the side by a gust of wind. She eyed her opponent carefully, as she didn't need to injure him, only to knock him out; not that she wanted to kill the man that had caused her so much trouble. Her trained eyes could pick out the smallest of twitches, and her body was fast enough to respond seconds before her enemy could even move. It was easier now as he was a swordsman because the lack of diversity of movements restrained most of them: she would be able to predict in which direction the sword will be coming from. She will win, if her mind didn't slow her down.

Foreseeing the attack with the slight inch of the shinobi's free hand toward his left weapon pouch, she quickly sheathed her own sword in its black scabbard, the light metal hanging from her dull silver belt, and launched a dozen of senbon coated with paralyzing poison toward the Konoha jonin.

"Go!" she whispered to her protégé as her opponent was distracted while he concentrated on dodging the small and sharp projectiles. Yuki quickly bolted, nimbly jumping over debris and rocks, not daring to look behind. Her long hair narrowly missed a sharp metal pole on which they surely would have tangled, and the girl felt her heart sink at the guilt. She had abandoned them – Kakashi-nii, Tenshi-san, her friends and the old lady living next door who probably needed help. But Tenshi-san told her to run, to go, to _flee_, and if she does so then she would see her mommy and doing that right now seemed so important, because her mommy was kind and gentle and powerful, so she would protect her.

Not even looking back once, the small girl disappeared in the chaotic landscape that was Konoha.

Suddenly, Kuro jumped in the air, barely avoiding a volley of shuriken. Flipping in the air and landing on her feet several meters away, she retaliated with a few well-aimed kunai of her own.

'_Tch, why did he have to be too stubborn to realize that if I was an enemy I would have used that little girl as a hostage rather than letting her go?'_

Using the few seconds she had until the jonin finished dodging all the kunai, she jumped out of the building and landed on her feet several stories below on the street: she cannot risk destroying the place without burying Kakashi. As expected, her opponent followed her without a second thought and immediately rushed toward her.

"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!" The Leaf jonin yelled after a quick set of hand seals, and Kuro swiftly dodged to the side.

'_A fire affinity? So my gift had affected them more than expected, even after all these years...'_

Holding a set of kunai in her right hand, Kuro began to make one-handed seals quicker than most jonin can do. "Katon: Hosenka no jutsu!" she shouted, smirking as her opponent's eyes widened and began dodging the blazing projectiles. She didn't wait for him to stop running and threw the five kunai she held in the direction he dodged, forcing him to jump in the air. The impact of the fireballs lifted a screen of smoke, and Kuro stood, all senses on alert, waiting for it to settle down. The dust was too thick for her normal eyes to see through, but her ears would be more than enough to make up for it. For a few seconds, all was silent and the only sound she can hear was her own panting. She had been fighting for hours, and even if her chakra reserves were still able to sustain her for a few more battles, her body was beginning to tire.

'_There!'_

Kuro deflected the powerful kick with a swat of her hand and parried the sword swing that followed it. However, she didn't expect there to be that much force behind the attack and was sent crashing in a wall, out of the smoke screen. Raising and arm to shield herself, she gritted her teeth as an abnormally long kunai pierced her left shoulder and pinned her to the wall. She hissed and grabbed the handle, pulling it out of the wound. The kunai must have severed a nerve, for her left arm was now limp and devoid of all sensations. The blood flowing from the injury began to seethe, as if boiling, and soon the flesh began to mend itself. Kuro released a sigh and stopped the chakra flow to her shoulder: she cannot afford to lose any more chakra after the stunt she pulled to heal Kakashi, so closing the wound will have to do. She can always reconnect the blood vessels later, when she isn't in the middle of a battle, preferably in her den.

Her ears picked up the faint sound of sandals against gravel. She twisted, desperately trying to get away from the killing blow she knew was coming, and she would have if not for her limp arm. She was thrown into the wall again and Kuro felt a few of her bruised ribs crack painfully. A hand grabbed her neck and lifted her in the air in a bruising grip, not allowing her to breath. Once again, she knew she can get away with a simple twist. She knew that the man's strength was nothing compared to her own, and that if she doesn't kill him, she may really be killed. She can twist his neck before he even realized, she can burn him to ashes in mere seconds. But she also knew that, deep down, she cannot bear the thought of killing yet another comrade, because to her, he was one. This man, her soon-to-be killer, her mind added, was born in the village _he_ cherished. Born in the place _he_ worked so hard to protect, a descendant of those _he_ fought and _died_ for.

Red, burning eyes stared into her own, full of hate and wonder.

"How about a little trip the the T&amp;I, Iwa-scum?"

Kuro smiled at Uchiha Fugaku, a wetness she had not experienced since long behind her eyes. She slowly released the dead grip she had on her sword, tense muscles relaxing under the silent command. No, she would not kill this man. She did not and will not.

* * *

-Inukami-

It hurts. It hurts everywhere, her body, her ears, her eyes, her mind. The slow dripping of water from a crack on the ceiling was killing her senses, and the occasional drop that slides down her heated skin makes her feel as if burning from the inside. She cannot feel her arms, tied to the ceiling since Kami knows how long, and her legs felt as if she will never be able to walk again. Her midsection constantly sent waves of painful sensations up her spine, but she was too tired to even twitch. How long has it been? Her captain had been in here with her and Taka, but he was brought somewhere else soon, something about security and patrols, one of the guards she spied on had said. They were left alone at first, only visited by guards who brought them water and occasionally, bread that tasted like rotten meat. She was pretty sure that the food had been drugged, since her metabolism would never allow a fever to last as long as it had. None of her teammates, even her captain, were able to move a single muscle without screaming in pain. The poison must have been something that enhanced all sensations to extremely painful levels. If she was less tired, she would have joked about the T&amp;I salivating at the prospect of using said poison, but her mind was too worn out to even think about anything else than _pain and pain and hurt._

Then, the torture started. Nothing too serious, not the intensive ones she had heard about from reluctant lips. They were not trying to obtain information. No, they were aiming for something greedier, something that she had only caught whispers of, a subject never openly spoken of. They were trying to break them. To destroy all senses of themselves, and to reshape them into someone else-something else, because the hits and the abuse followed by too gentle touches cannot be more obvious.

A slave.

They wanted to make her into a slave.

She had struggled, planned dozens of escape routes with Taka, even went as far as being able to steal the key to their cell, but they _never got out_. It was frustrating, being so close to liberty and yet so far, the sunlight just out of their reach. After their near escape, the guards decided to put them into separated cells but they still kept them close. The clever bastards had sealed their chakra to minimum levels, but what they didn't know is that all Anbu were taught how to store chakra in small quantities all over their bodies without disrupting the natural flow of chakra. That's how Taka managed to send her messages to plan their next escape, but the information stopped coming in a while ago. Something had happened, and that belief was cemented with the constant cursing and muffled groaning of pain that came from Taka's cell, but Inukami can do nothing else but to wish he stayed strong through whatever torture he was under.

Inukami was exhausted. When someone would enter her cell to perform whatever sick torture that interested him, she would retreat into her mind and focus on her goal. On Konoha, on home, on the voices and the faces of her friends. She would dig up memories buried too deep to remember, and she would relish in the utter calm that was the presence of her captain. She blocked out every muttered word, every unwanted sensation that the drugs caused, that the big, roaming hands stirred deep inside her. For days, she hid in the dark, sat on the green grass of her mindscape, repairing with little success the cracks that appears far too rapidly for her to keep track of. She mended together what she can reach, but she knew that it will not hold for long. The grass was quickly turning to ashes and the deep gash on the sky kept growing, little pieces of night falling and shattering on the ground. She kept the memories away, hiding them in the void beyond the sky, but they were quickly becoming too heavy to bear, and soon all the weight will crash down and destroy what little sanity she had left.

Did she even have any anymore?

How many hours has it been since she had been tied up here, helpless and panting in pained pleasure? Guards have passed many times before her cell, their steps heavy with the clang of metal plates against others, and often she had heard them release soundless pants of heat, their armor constricting their slightest movements. Many times screams had echoed in the underground prison, cries of pain and fear followed by loud, satisfied grunts of sick pleasure. Suddenly, footfall reached her ears again, almost too light to be of a trained civilian, and this time, the sound didn't make her senses scream in pain. The metal door of her cell silently opened, and Inukami squeezed her eyes shut. However, hours of being held in a cell with no light whatsoever had made her body unaccustomed to sudden movement, and so a bright column of blinding light came into her vision. Gritting her teeth against the _hot white pain_ she forced her eyelids to open despite the pain, and the blurry form of a shadow against all the white greeted her. Blinking away the tears that refused to fall, she whimpered in her throat. They were coming. They were coming for her, and this time, she cannot escape what is about to come.

Her breathing became more and more frantic as each footstep resounded on the stone walls of the cell. She squeezed her eyes shut, too afraid of what she knew was coming. Too afraid of the abuse, too fearful of the pain. A single twitch of her arms felt as if she was lifting a boulder and her deft fingers were useless against the harsh ropes that bit into her skin, but she tried nonetheless. She struggled, forcing her body to _move_ and to get away even if she knew it was well over her limited capacities. But then, a _touch_, a single one, nothing more than the whisper of a silent promise in the dark, and her mind screamed as half of her sky crumbled.

It was agonizing, the pleas, the fear and the wishes that were all too empty to ever become true, that passed before her eyes in a blur that made her mind swirl with despair and hope. Inukami wanted to live. She wanted to see the daylight, to watch the world as time passes and to smell life again. She wanted to feel the soft brush of leaves on her bare arms, the slight crunch of grass and rocks under her feet as she waltzed, unrestrained, under the unblinking stars. She wanted to run, to fly, to soar toward the sky in a mad sprint, the light casting a shadow on her snarling mask. She wanted to be _free_, and yet, she knew that those dreams will evaporate very soon, too soon, and she would be no more than one of the many lingering memories that fade with time and battles. She will not be remembered, not spoken of. Her passing will only be a small, unfortunate event in the course of those who dwell in the shadows. But even though she was so small, so insignificant in their world of battles and of death, she knew that somewhere, she was still needed, and her heart aches for the time when she would have to leave those she cared for behind.

Inukami was an Anbu agent, she have been for a long time, and her existence in the world of light had been replaced by a new life of constant bloodshed under the moon. Inuzuka Tsume do not exist. The most dangerous, vicious female dog and soon-to-be Alpha of the clan do not exist. Chuunin Inuzuka left on a seduction mission two years ago and never returned. What came back was Inukami, snarling and dangerous, waiting to catch its prey in its titanic maw of blood-red claws, followed by a wolf of the purest breed of night.

But for a second, Inukami, the vengeful claw, the Anbu, faded into Inuzuka Tsume, little, helpless Tsume, without her wolf and her pack to back her up. As the tingling of hot, barely controlled breathing tickled her ears, she let out a small, last prayer to the unseen sky.

_Let me go._

The rustle of light fabric echoed eerily in the silent cell, and Tsume heard, as her heart sank, the sharp intake of air following the clang of her mask dropping to the floor.

"Well, aren't you beautiful..."

His voice was sultry, rich, deeper than most, as if the sound did not come from a human throat, but Tsume picked up the distinctive scent of alcohol. The hope of the man being somewhat merciful was crushed.

"I wonder if you'll be as feisty as your friend?"

Taka.

That bastard, he-! He dared to touch _Taka_!

Snarling, she bit the hand that rested on her chin. The man hissed in pain, and a resounding slap sent Inukami's oversensitive senses on fire. Refusing to let out the screams that threatened to burst, she bit her tongue, but a small moan still escaped. The man- she refused to open her eyes in fear of retaining any memories of this moment, if she would still be able to remember- grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked painfully, exposing her neck in a vulnerable position.

_Don't._

Something warm now rests on her chin, a hand calloused by the many years of handling weapons, and she forced herself to forget, to not feel, to not see. Instead, she focused on her breathing, erratic despite her mind telling her to calm down, that she can, _will_ survive, and she felt at peace a little more. The hand moved down, grazing her bottom lip, sliding on her neck.

_Close your mind. Breathe._

The man smirked and licked a wet trail from the base of her neck to her chin, then harshly bit into the skin of her exposed shoulder, drawing fresh, red blood that he drank eagerly. His free hand roamed downward, resting for a brief second on her breast, then slid down her stomach to rest on her hip. Inukami sucked in a small amount of air, bracing herself for what was about to come, trying to ignore the state of her mindscape, the burning grass below her feet and the crumbling, darkened sky around her.

_Do you truly want to escape?_

The hand slipped in the waistband of her pants, and Inukami jerked away, only to be pulled back by the ropes and the hand in her hair.

_You still have a choice left._

The knot in her stomach tightened, her fingers moved into a single hand seal, and as her consciousness retreated a little farther into her mind, she released a single pulse of chakra.

_Please._

An explosion was heard, but the sound that would normally have crippled her was only loud enough for her to hear.

_Forgive me._

Something scratched her arm and ingrained itself with a wet, soft sound into flesh. She waited. She waited for the pain to register, for her over-sensitive skin to burn with the probably deep cut, and she waited for the red, hot flames that would come soon, that would free her. She waited through the haze, through the memories, through the guilt and the blood, after the gurgle and the hand that disappeared from her skin, sliding out of her torn clothes.

She waited, but nothing came.

'_Is it... over?_

Before she can answer herself, mad giggles froze her in place, and she soon realized that it was herself.

She whimpered, and her reaction was followed by another loud set of sadistic giggles, all promising blood and death. She wanted to curl into herself, to protect herself from the pain. To perhaps never feel again, and then will she be safe? She wanted to scream. Why is she hurt? Why does she feel numb? _Why?_

She suddenly felt a wave of glee surround her, and the answer was whispered calmly into her ears, for her to hear, for her to understand. A vengeance for her to carry out.

'_**Konoha.'**_

Then, it all crumbled. White flooded her vision, and a cold, numbing sensation ran through her muscles in waves of pleasant and almost lazy passion. The voice faded in a shrill cry of agony, and Tsume felt a soothing, gentle force quickly retreat from her mind. Almost instinctively, without purpose, she lifted her arm, hand outstretched toward the disappearing force in a desperate fashion, but it left before she can grab it. A small tingle ran from each of her toes up to her fingertips, slowly warming her up; nimble, talented fingers pressed against her solar plexus, under her eyes, on her pulse, on her heart, on the small of her back, and one by one, thousands of sparks seem to wake up from their slumber. A last simple, cooling touch on her eyelids, and suddenly, the white faded. And again Tsume can see.

"Inukami?"

Gentle, deft fingers ran through her messy hair, massaging her scalp. Tsume, startled, snarled at the person and tried to push him away and the person's grip loosened with a surprised gasp. Tsume felt herself falling, but she had put the last of her strength into that last push and she had no force left to even attempt to cushion the fall. Strong arms caught her just as she was about to meet the ground; panic flooded her mind again, and a scream was about to emerge when a gloved hand suddenly covered her mouth, muffling her cry.

"Shhhhh, it's okay... I'm here, so it's okay... "

Minato. It was Minato's voice.

She was hallucinating. She was sure. Because he cannot be here, it's impossible. This is only an image created by her broken mind to torture her. Because the sight represented her wish to return to be _home_, and she knew that it will not happen, not now, not again. It was not real, he was not real. But no matter what she thought, she still felt the soothing touch, still felt the brush of calloused fingers on her chin.

Insane laughter escaped her again, why is Minato here?

"Inukami!" the apparition called out worriedly, palm coated with green healing chakra reaching out. Why was she dreaming about being healed?

Her eyes widened as the same icy feeling from before returned, less prominent but it was still there. "...Minato?" It can't be. He cannot be here, can he?

Mad giggles bubbled up again, and she lifted a bloody hand toward he captain's concerned face to brush aside a wild strand of blond hair. She stopped herself just before her fingers would brush against his pale skin, a small portion of her mind telling her to not stain the angelic features.

"Minato... where is home? I want to be home." She smiled to herself. "Why am I talking to an apparition? Minato... will you bring me home?"

Then, a sudden thought popped up, and she grinned widely. "Minato? Will you help me deliver Soramaru's pup? That little red ball's going to be real trouble."

Minato looked into her wild brown eyes with confusion, a hint of sorrow in his azure eyes, but nodded slowly. "Inukami, are you okay?"

"Okay? No, I am not, Minato. Far from it. You have seen my mindscape, didn't you? It had stopped deteriorating, but it isn't getting better. Minato... what shall I do? I doubt I'll be able to continue working in this team. The sky had shattered and the grass is long since burnt. Minato... what shall I do?" She laughed even as a silent tear ran down her cheek and she tilted he head backward, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Inukami... It'll be alright. We'll help you. We'll fix you, and everything is going to be alright. Don't you see?" Minato said, grasping tightly the hand that reached out to him. Inukami tried to jerk away, but Minato didn't loosen the grip.

"No! You can't. The blood and the... the- just don't touch!" she panicked, but Minato only held her tighter. "I don't mind. I won't let you go. I'll bring you home."

Home.

Safety.

She was safe.

A gentle finger wiped away her tears, and Inukami leaned into the touch.

"And Taka?" She asked, her voice heavily laced with exhaustion.

"Safe."

And as a last tear of relief ran down Inukami's chin, everything faded away.

A dark figure stepped out of the shadows and tilted his head in a questioning gesture, and Minato, after tying the fine threads of red strings behind his teammate's head, stood up with a masked Inukami in his arms. The figure was holding a limp form in his arms, and with a simgle nod, they both disappeared silently.

Seconds after their departure, the entire building went up in blue and black flames.


	15. Chapter 15, A place to return

**Chapter 15: A place to return**

**Sorry sorry sorry! I know that I always use homework as an excuse, but we just had a project where we have to pretend behind people from year 2451 in a world where Internet was destroyed by a terrorist/hacker around year 2101. So we had to pretend having found 4 pieces of money (I'm Canadian) and study it to gain information on the history, the politics, the culture, the technology, the wilderness, the fauna and the flora of Canada. And we had to write a text. I realized just how much we can learn with numismatics, and just how much TIME it takes to write a text to ANALYSE a COUNTRY. So... yeah.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Kishimoto-sensei in any way, shape or form, and I do not own the few Latin quotes that will pop out here and there. I however own the plot and the Ocs, as well as the description of some places and the characterization of some less-known characters in the original anime/manga.**

* * *

_-Border of Hi no Kuni, hour 2100_

"_Hachidori__, about twenty chakra signatures three miles east, quickly approaching. Over.__"_

"Received. Head west in 0015, we will make a detour. Over."

With a small buzz, the masterfully painted and hidden seal turned off and Hachidori sighed. Ducking instinctively, he avoided a branch and then another, jumped over thorns that somehow found themselves growing on threes, and crouched again, on a tree several feet away. This part of the forest was so compact that there is no way someone can run more than a few seconds without smashing head first into a tree. It is the best route to take to stay under cover, but again, it's not the best idea when raining: the water renders the forms of the trees blurry and makes ground level travels impossible, and even if the huge leaves do offer some protection, they hinder their sight and often those other than Konoha nin find themselves turning in circles in the five hectares forest. Reducing his speed – not that he was going any faster than a small jog - Hachidori lifted an arm, signing for the others to stop.

"Captain?"

"Uzu reported a group of shinobi three miles away on our direct path. We'll have to get around them, perhaps even use the main road."

Inu abruptly turned his head toward Hachidori, his shoulders stiff and his head tilted to show his disagreement.

"It is not safe enough. We cannot risk getting on the road, and getting around the camp would take too much time."

"Any other suggestions?" Hachidori's frustrated voice clearly cut through the heavy rain.

The seal on Hachidori's mask buzzed again. _"__Captain, I think we should incapacitate them. They have strong earth affinities. "Over.__"_

Having also received the message via the seal painted on his mask, Inu looked at Hachidori and nodded grimly.

"Iwa."

Hachidori's stance stiffened and resisted the urge to sigh apprehensively. He lightly tapped his chin with a finger and the seal underneath came to life with a small flare of chakra. "Received. Change of plan, I'll send help, clear the path. Over."

"_Received. Over."_

Knowing the order without it being said, Inu darted on another tree and disappeared within moments behind the trees. Signing for the others to approach, he related the message.

"Karasu, I need you to extend your chakra field, keep an eye on Inu and Uzu. We'll follow them at distance. "

A moment later, a strong gust of wind swept over the entire area, the air becoming heavier as it was gradually saturated with chakra. Smiling behind his mask, Hachidori turned to his other companion. The blue haired woman answered with a raised eyebrow, shifting slightly so that the weight of her burden rested on her shoulder. She was not visibly affected by the strong winds and the freezing rain even as her warm coat now rests on the bundle in Hachidori's arms.

"I'm used to it." Her monotone voice was muffled by the splashing of water, but Hachidori understood. Having not much else to say, he motioned for them to advance, deeming Inu far enough so that he would have the time to finish off the Iwa nin before they arrived. Advancing slowly, they painstakingly crossed the distance between them and the edge of the abnormally dense forest, and just as they was about to come out of the line of trees, the downpour turned into a small drizzle and the stormy sky cleared. The small group jumped off the tree they were on and landed soundlessly on the moist earth below. At the other side of the wide clearing was a shinobi camp, the lack of movement suggesting that the occupants were gone. The air faintly smelled of recently burnt flesh, so Hachidori assumed that Inu and Uzu must have already disposed of the bodies. That was confirmed when a familiar unmasked figure popped out of one of the tents, waving for them to come over with a lazy flick of his wrist.

"What are you waiting for? Come here! You're not gonna carry them around all day with those trembling arms are you?"

"Then why don't you go help them if you think you're so smart, Hatake-sempai? And captain, he does have a point. Your body is still recovering, so please do not strain yourself too much." Uzu replied, which made Sakumo pout.

Groaning at the smirk he knew was directed at him, Hachidori grudgingly obeyed and bent down to get inside the tent, giving the passed-out Inukami to Inu, careful to not jolt her. Inu gently laid her on the fuuton and removed his own traveling coat and draped it over her to make up for the lack of blanket. Hachidori, after checking over Inukami's vitals for the hundreds time that day, nodded appreciatively to Sakumo and stepped out of the tent. Karasu was starting a campfire between two tree roots, making sure that the produced smoke bent into the mist that surrounded the treetops, and Uzu was cleaning her bloodied weapons with an equally blood-red towel. Konan then came out of the second tent with a pleased expression.

"How is he doing?" Minato asked, concerned for his other teammate.

Konan smiled reassuringly at him. "Don't worry, he's recovering fast. By the time you get back to Konoha, he will be as good as new. I cannot assure that he will not be... changed, but at least he won't have to look into the mirror and see proves of what happened. He also probably won't remember much of his time underground, with all the drugs they shoved down his throat. He should be just fine, give him a few months and the nightmares and the phantom pain should fade. You were lucky Uzum-...Uzu had known about the poison or he'd probably be trying to get into your pants by now."

Minato winced: when they had found Taka, he had been under several layers of genjutsu and he was feverish even after several muttered, unsuccessful 'kai', screaming and trashing in pain as his body kept shivering. Minato had to knock him out lest they were discovered, but Taka always whimpered when someone was not touching him in some way. Uzu had then taken out a vial of gooey, sticky liquid and applied it on Taka's neck, arms and torso, rubbing until all of it was absorbed by the skin. A minute later, Taka had been happily sleeping. After some explanations from Uzu, Minato's concerned expression had turned solemn. Taka had been drugged with a kind of hallucinogens normally brewed only in Iwa, making him think that when something was _not_ touching him he was being tortured in different ways, depending on the species of plants used; and so when someone gives a victim 'pleasure', the victim's body unconsciously accept it as a form of relief until the point where he will crave it. 001 had cleaned out the poison with the liquid and removed any stress from Taka's body with waves of chakra. Konan had then proceeded to watch over Minato's teammate, refusing to let anyone near until she had his body as healed and as healthy as it can be.

"Thank you for your help, Konan-san."

The Ame kunoichi only shook her head, "No, you should thank Uzu. She's the one who made it possible. Without her, I wouldn't have been able to save him."

"Konan!" At the call, the blue haired woman turned her head and smiled at the slowly approaching Naruto. The redhead's mask was pushed up on the side of her head and she was wiping away the blood on her hands with her towel, her eyes darting left and right in an uncharacteristic show of uncertainty.

"Konan, didn't you say you had a teammate back in that village?" she asked.

"Yes, I already informed Yahiko that I will be back in several days. He returned last night to Ame. Why ask?"

Naruto bit her lip and looked at Minato. Getting the message, he left with the pretense to go hunting. However, Konan did not miss the awkward gesture and stared at Naruto questioningly.

"Look... I want you to be careful. You are quite smitten with this Yahiko, am I right?" The kunoichi flushed a bright shade of red and slowly nodded the question still present in her amber eyes.

"Listen..." Naruto began, her voice dropping, "Don't ask me how I have this information, but I need you to listen carefully. In a few months, a man named Hanzo will approach you to negociate an alliance. I know that you will accept, and I want you to. Konan, do you trust me?" Locking eyes with the taken aback woman, Naruto searched her gaze for a hint of denial and found none.

"It will be a trap. Hanzo is allied with a certain... man, who I intend on taking care of, and they will ambush you. Konan, this is crucial. Do _not_ let Yahiko or Nagato die. I know that this will sound crazy, but part of the future lies in their fate. The death of one of them will change everything, and I cannot let that happen. Do you understand?" Konan stared back, her eyes wondering, and then her lips twitched into a hesitant smile.

"I don't know why, but yes, I trust you. The second we met, the time you said that you were 'Mirai', I knew that something big was going on... something bigger than what most can see, something that is not for me to understand, and I know that somehow you and your friend is right at its middle. Nagato saw you, you know? He said that you were finally going to fulfill your promise to him and while I am saddened that he didn't trust me enough to tell me what is going on, I know enough. So I'm going to promise you that I, Konan of Ame, will ensure my teammates' survival at the cost of my own life." Then she pressed a letter in Naruto's hand and pulled the redhead into an unexpected hug.

"I promise." She whispered, and Naruto felt tears prickle her eyes. For a second, she saw the older Konan she knew, face warm and gentle, telling her that she would be okay, that she would be back, only to leave behind nothing but her blue paper flower to remain in this world barely a week afterwards. So Naruto squeezed back just as hard, and let go with a bright smile.

"Thank you." And with that, she quickly turned and left, wiping away her tears with her hand.

Konan watched the Uzumaki as she went to gather the shuriken she had thrown earlier in the fight, and the Angel of Ame gently touched the cold metal ring of the kunai Naruto had silently slipped into her weapon pouch.

That night, after her watch, Naruto quietly disappeared into the forest as the moon reached its peak in the night sky, relaxing as the familiar sounds of wildlife and nature separated her from human presence. She chose a high oak tree and climbed up to the biggest branch, letting the tree bend and envelop her in its gentle and soothing energy. Closing her eyes, she soon found herself in a cave she visited every night.

She approached the giant beast and sat down, resting her head on its soft abdomen.

'_Kurama... Kurama, why is it so warm, yet I feel so cold inside?'_

The fox looked at her with sorrowful eyes and curled on herself a little bit more, making her long limbs circle Naruto, forming a huge nest of sleek, red fur.

'_**Oh kit... it's because you want to have them again, to possess them like you did before. Kit, it's because you constantly see what your friends were and not what they are, and for that you want to push them away...'**_

'_I want it to stop. Why doesn't it stop? I want to see her again... Kurama, I want to see her again...'_

'_**You will kit... one day you will, but she will not be the same. She will not be her, not the her you knew, and not the her you came to love. She will be alive, but not as your mate, not as your comrade. Her soul would have moved on. She would have changed, as you have.'**_

'_It'll be enough...'_

And as Naruto's eyes closed again, the giant fox shifted so that Naruto now rests with her back against Kurama's stomach and her body on top of the vixen's tails. Gently, Kurama brushed a strand of hair from her jailor's face.

'_**Me too, kit. Me too, I wish to be able to see them again...'**_

The next morning, no one mentioned Naruto's disappearance, only sending her concerned looks when they thought she wasn't looking. Minato hadn't questioned her yet as to why he found her sleeping the morning away on a tree that oddly seemed to had actually bent to form a nest of branches and leaves around her, and for that she was grateful. Sasuke had only sent her an understanding look, and when Konan departed, it was with a light heart that Naruto had said goodbye.

The same afternoon, they arrived home only to find Konoha in ruins and flames.

* * *

-Konoha-

Hiruzen sighed as he looked at the cloudy sky again, feeling the cold, chilling wind that usually precedes rainfall slip through the heavy attire that weights down on his shoulders. As the harsh wind brought the smell of ashes and blood, the Hokage cannot help but to feel the heavy weight of hopelessness settle in his old heart. There just wasn't enough time, to grief, to pause, to prepare. War was upon them, striking hard and fast; even though it had been there on the edges of their minds for already a year, it still came as a shock. They had been preparing, everyone had, be it civilians or shinobi, but it wasn't enough. Nothing could have prevented the deaths, and fear and the sadness... nothing, and Hiruzen knew that since long ago. They had known since the skirmishes on the borders began to become more and more frequent and lethal. And yet... and yet, when war came, the truth struck harder than anything, like a vacuum of blinding light that kept sucking everything in. Smoke filled air still paints Sarutobi's beautiful village in grey and monotone colors, turning the multicolored village into something more distant, as if in the span of two days all the joy and the usual cheer had left. Burnt leaves brushed against his skin, gentle yet harsh in the cold weather, their razor sharp edges leaving a thin cut on his chin that only shed a drop of blood. Yet Hiruzen cannot bring himself to care, not after the attack, the death and the blood, not after the loses and the pain.

"Hokage-sama..." a chuunin calmly said, his voice laced with exhaustion. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw his brown haired, plain-looking attendant fidget slightly under his gaze. Smiling softly at the young shinobi, he took his hat from the chuunin's hands before turning his eyes to the silently waiting crowd below him, Sarutobi felt his heart constrict in his chest at the sight of the mournful, fearful faces of the civilians and the severe and foreboding expression of the shinobi. It still hung heavily in the air, making the grim atmosphere almost too heavy to bear with unspoken sorrow.

Approaching the railing, the Hokage adjusted his hat and lifted his right hand, the crowd becoming silent. Hiruzen inhaled slowly as he prepared for what he was about to say; he felt old, older than ever, as if the years he lived finally caught up to him in a rush of spiraling memories, and he let that feeling engulf him just for a fraction of seconds, even just a little bit, to feel what had been, to see what Konoha had been before the wars. Sarutobi braced himself and inhaled deeply, trying to catch the scent of the forest behind the smoke. His lungs burned and he wanted to choke, but he refrained from doing so, if only to convince himself of all this being a dream.

"Citizens of Konoha, as you all know, we have been attacked by Iwa two days ago in the afternoon. While the battle didn't last long and we successfully drove the enemy away, it is not without consequences. We lost up to a hundred shinobi, mostly of chuunin rank, and a dozen civilians were unfortunately killed by collapsing buiold. We have lost a lot, but for every shinobi we lost three enemies were killed. Today is indeed a sad day, and this attack will only be the first of many, because today, I, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage, officially announce the beginning of the Third shinobi war!"

Cries of surprise and anger immediately emerged from the crowd, and soon all that could be heard was a hubbub of angry shouts and mournful gasps. Sarutobi looked down at the people he was to protect, and a wave of guilt hit him as he saw crying mothers hug their children and lovers hold each other; veteran shinobi either looked tiredly at him or stubbornly stared at the ground, having mostly predicted the announcement; most genin had a look of confusion on their young faces, not understanding yet what killing was, not understanding the wrath, not understanding what it was to kill for a choice that was made, just for winning. It was not something new to the Third Hokage, the feeling of dread and the fear of dying and leaving your precious people behind. He had been born during the warring eras, before the first shinobi village was even created. He was but merely a genin when he fought in the First War, and he had led Konoha to victory in the second. And now... and now, he has to do it again. He had to send shinobi to their death in exchange for other lives, he had to sacrifice and sometimes force others to. It wasn't fair, yet it was necessary for the village's survival. A Hokage had to make choices, and Sarutobi felt he was too old now for his mind to handle the strain.

"Listen to me! Citizens, for what did your family die in the attack? Shinobi, whom did your comrades sacrifice themselves for? Everyone, what did every single one of them tried to protect?" A small, shy voice rised from the now quiet crowd.

"I believe it was for their most precious treasure."

"Exactly! Now tell me. What is precious, to you, to me, to us, to this village? What are we living for?" All shinobi looked at him, intrigued by the sudden questioning. Sarutobi recognized a few faces, those he had personally assigned missions to or seen on the streets, but those that made his gaze linger for a fraction of second were those he grew up with, all retired shinobi who all had been hurt in more than one way, and they all had small, sad knowing smirks on their faces. But even after a few seconds, no one dared to answer.

"The children! For the future of our children and our families, for a future of peace! And now, my friends, that peace had been disturbed; and we must fight back! WHAT SAY YOU?"

The voice of the Hokage resonated in the air, powerful and trusting; and slowly, hesitantly, the eyes of the people found those of their leader, and together, they cried out.

"Yes!"

"Fight! Fight for your home, for this peace that is at the source of the Will of fire! WHAT SAY YOU?"

"Yes!"

"Fight with all you have, to protect you families and you friends! Fight for a brighter future!"

"YES!"

And with that last cry, all of Konoha, gathered before the Hokage tower, began to cheer as the sky gave a deafening thundering. As if the thunder itself was with them, the crowd roar with the sky, cries of hope and courage resounding for miles with a determination that had not been felt for years, growing and growing in their hearts faster that they can express it. Sarutobi cracked a gentle and regretful smile, knowing that the cheerfulness wouldn't last long for the shinobi. But right now, at this moment, he felt calm and proud of his village. He let the joy envelop him, soothing all the old wounds that had opened again. He was hurting, yes... but now, now he let himself rejoice with his comrades, with the sky and the earth; he let the pain go away, and Hiruzen felt young again. But soon, too soon, all the weight came crashing down again, and Sarutobi wanted to cry. Wanted to weep for the deaths and his people, but he cannot, because wanting isn't enough.

A small breeze brushed against his hair almost unperceived; a few seconds later two pulses of chakra alerted him of the presence of the Anbu team. "Hokage-sama." Hiruzen turned his head, not recognizing the deep, almost guttural tone, but the eerily blank masks indicated clearly the identity of their owner. His trained eyes immediately noticed the tense shoulders, the stance that looked too controlled and the heads that tilted just a bit to the side. The Hokage felt guilty of overworking them so much, but he had no choice. The attack came at the worst time, and everyone had to work twice as hard to get the village back in shape before any other country tempt to strike her as she is at her weakest. The Anbu, the jonin and the few chuunin that were not rebuilding were instantly flooded with missions to create as much income as possible to cover the money needed.

The Anbu had it worse than anyone: on top of being the branch that was the most affected by the attack, Anbu squads were continuously sent out on new missions outside the village with only an hour break in between, only getting three days of border patrol to 'rest' as another squad is dispatched. Even some jonin or chuunin were recalled in Anbu to make up for those lost during the attack, and the Academy closed for an undefined amount of time since the chuunin instructors were needed on the field. It was a hard and grueling pace, but no one complained, knowing that the village needed as much shinobi as possible for a quick recovery.

"Hokage-sama, you called us?" The taller one said. The sound was too deep for a human throat, echoing in the Anbu's chest before coming out almost like a growl. Hiruzen knew that it was nothing more than an intimidation tactic, but it work so well - too well, and he wasn't able to suppress the small shiver that went down his spine. He smelt the fear that was coming from his assistant, saw the wild looks the boy kept sending to the Anbu, and the panic in his body language. Berating himself for forgetting the chuunin's presence, he quickly dismissed him and it was with relief that his assistant bolted to the door leading to the staircase.

"Such a shame, he would have been a good prey." The Anbu's partner growled in agreement, followed by the distinctive sound of someone licking their lips hungrily. It made Hiruzen nervous, knowing how the duo behaved without those blank mask yet seeing something else entirely, something wilder, more savage than humanly possible. The way they spoke, the roughness in their voice, the lingering smell of warm fur, the feral way in which they moved, it had always been there, in every small movement, in their eyes, but never had it been so obviously d_angerous_ than when they are behind their blank Anbu masks.

Hiruzen coughed awkwardly to get their attention. "Your sudden promotion had gained the attention of the Council. They had doubts about your... allegiance. Normal shinobi who return from a long-term mission outside the village usually goes through a month of supervised probation, but I cannot afford to take two of my best shinobi off active duty on top of assigning a guard who will also have to be removed from the mission roster. As such I have decided to assign you for the time being to an Anbu squad that is lacking a teammate."

"But the Council accepted on a condition, I assume?" Hiruzen nodded, dreading their reaction when he will announce them the Council's decision. He had been against the idea, but with half of the clan heads siding with the civilians, he could not reject it without vetoing the proposal, consequently leading to a meeting with the Fire daimyo; and so Hiruzen was cornered since the matter wasn't important enough for the daimyo to even look at.

"We have decided to separate you and to evaluate your performance before officially re-installing you as Independent Anbu. Of course you will still work under my direct order, but you'll have to work with others as shinobi of normal rank unless I say otherwise. For the span of a year, one of you will be sent with our first deployment to the borders of Waterfall as a frontline fighter and second in command, while the other will be assigned to Anbu squad 3 for as long as needed until their teammate recover. The choice as to who will leave is yours." As soon as he finished barely contained killing intent leaked out from the Anbu, angry chakra swirling so much that the floor cracked and small rocks were sucked into the miniature hurricane. Hiruzen became alarmed as his eyes picked up the slight red tint the chakra was saturated with, realizing that the rocks flying around in the air were actually disintegrating; he was all but too aware of the crowd, slowly dispersing, so frighteningly close-

"Enough!" he barked, reinforcing the order with a powerful surge of his own, much more controlled charka. Uzu snarled and growled loudly at him and Karasu was trembling in cold fury, but the menacing aura died down slowly and all that was left was the burning, icy cold fire in their eyes.

"Hokage-sama! With all due respect, this is unacceptable! You are well aware of our conditions, and separating us will severely endanger-"

"This is an order! Don't get me wrong, I'm the Hokage here and _I make the decisions_! Understood?" Hiruzen hissed through his teeth, desperate anger laced in his voice. Naruto and Sasuke remained silent, not knowing what to say as the kind, old man suddenly snapped at them. "Look, I don't like the decision, you obviously hate it, and we don't have to like it either. But think of it. One day you will be required to go after _that man_ and your current mission will certainly clash with the orders of one of your superiors, or in the worst scenario, you'll have to abandon or to go against a mission; how will you explain it then? If you are trusted and on good terms with the Council, then you'll probably be able to get away without being imprisoned or sentenced to death for betrayal. But if there is a single hind of mistrust toward you from the Council, then even _I_ wouldn't be able to save you. What would happen then? What will you accomplish if you are in a cell fifty feet underground or burnt to ashes? What will happen to Konoha then, only because you refused to be parted for a single year?" Sarutobi's voice started strong, but it soon quivering before ending in a whisper. "You are the future... what will I do without you?"

The two Anbu felt all of their wrath evaporate before the helpless tone of the man before them, the almost broken man that their leader was reduced to as the weight of _knowing_ became too much. That much they can relate to, wanting to change _so much_ yet knowing that some things cannot be altered, wishing that you can do more but not knowing what to do. Uzu swallowed thickly, feeling as if her tongue was stuck to her palate, before answering.

"Hokage-sama... I... we're deeply sorry, we didn't realize. I..." she started, before sending a small glare at Sasuke, who was about to speak. "We gladly accept your decision, Hokage-sama. I shall remain in Konoha. May I ask for a specific date? We need to know Sasuke's departure date so we can prepare."

"No need to be so formal, Naruto. I'm not angry at you, just... the emotions, it's all. As for the date, Sasuke-san will leave in exactly a month, on November 16, for Waterfall. You will both work in Anbu and live in the HQ for the time being, so please report to the Anbu commander after you get your masks, he had already been notified." Both nodded. Sarutobi took a drag of his pipe, then pulled out a black scroll from the multicolored pile on his desk and handed it to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, this scroll details your mission more clearly and contains information on your commander and such, please memorize it before the mission. Naruto, your duties with team 3 will begin as soon as you receive your annual shinobi assessment that includes a writing exam and a spar against a shinobi of my choice. I know that the next one isn't due until winter, but since the Council had been doubtful of your level of... compatibility with the team, we decided to perform it this month. The assessment will be in around two weeks, I will send a scroll for the specifics. I would recommend using the two weeks for preparation, expect to be tested in advanced shinobi knowledge, taijutsu, genjutsu and ninjutsu as well as other specialized fields, including general medical knowledge. You may use any Anbu training ground during this time, but please make sure that it isn't reserved. But now that you will reintegrate the normal Anbu forces, we need to discuss your codenames. But before that, let's take to my office shall we?" The Anbu nodded quietly and waited for the Hokage's chakra to flare before they stood up and disappeared in a seal-less Shunshin, reappearing seconds later in their leader's office.

"I believe that you both used temporary codenames for your last mission?" seeing the two nod, Sarutobi smiled. "As you already know, Uzu and Karasu are both already taken and registered, so you cannot use them. We've been having much more Anbu recruits these past few years than ever, so we're also running out of old Anbu masks as well as animal names. I think that the medical faction had already started with insects, but let's not go there shall we? So I need you both to think of something representative of you both, intimidating enough since you're two of my bests and will probably be the newest subject of gossip in town, and let's not forget nothing too exaggerated since we'll still have to make your masks according to your codenames," the Hokage said, attempting to add a touch of humor at the end to lift the slightly uncomfortable mood. He didn't quite succeed, but the small, forced chuckle was enough.

"Will it be too much to ask if Itachi is available?"

This time, Sarutobi did laugh, considering the irony behind the question. "I'm afraid it's been taken a few years ago, and no the Anbu is not dead yet, he's got actually quite the blow-up-and-run record." Sasuke did not show any visible sign of disappointment, but Naruto, knowing her teammate, gave her a friendly slap on the back.

"What about Tsuki and Taiyo?"

"Moon and Sun? Good idea, I have to say, but sadly Tsuki is already taken."

"Aka and Kuro?"

"Declined."

"Satsuki?"

"Taken."

"Mizu?"

"Taken."

"Nami?"

"Declined, way too obvious."

"Hana?"

"Do you really want to be called that?"

"...Ramen?"

"_No!"_

"Getsumei. Getsumei and Himei." Sasuke suddenly spoke. Naruto looked at Sasuke strangely while Hiruzen looked pensive. "Getsumei as in 'moonlight' with _getsu_, 'moon' and _mei_, 'clear', but Himei? Himei as in 'mournful cry', 'epitaph', 'non-alive' or in _hi_, 'day' and 'sun', and _mei_, 'clear', which means in a way 'sunlight'? My my, such powerful and, well, _deadly_ codenames, well thought, Sasuke-san."

Naruto tilted her head and mused for a few seconds. "I like that. It'll confuse the enemy and give them a sense of dread, gaining us a few seconds in our advantage, and our comrades may just leave us alone. I mean, who would want to be friend with two people with such depressive codenames? Really, teme, I didn't know you can be so... _deep_."

"Hn. Dobe."

"Teme!"

Hiruzen laughed loudly, almost choking on his pipe. Yes, these two will fit right in with Anbu.

* * *

"So, what do you think?" Naruto asked, walking beside her dark-haired friend in the emptying streets of Konoha. They had mover their meager possessions to their designed rooms in the Anbu HQ right after the meeting with the Hokage, then taken their time to set up wards around the small apartments, including traps, seals, wires, barriers with chakra keys and blood seals and everything else they can think of, making up little by little their safe haven. They had made sure to place a gape in the barrier around their windows to let message birds or the occasional Anbu messenger in, all the windows in the HQ already having numerous seals to only let people with no harmful intent in.

Then, deciding that a pair of spare Anbu uniform, a set of normal shinobi cloths and the weapons they had on them really didn't meet the requirements for 'bare minimum', they had gone shopping. Tooth brushes, hair brushes, shampoo, body wash, you name them. Soon the two found their arms full with shopping bags and they still needed to buy ration bars, extra kunai and shiruken, packs of senbon, weapon polish and other shinobi necessities. Thankfully two kage bunshin had already taken the bags to their new home. Now, an hour before sunset, they were taking their time to relax and enjoy the sight of a complete, prospering, happy and _peaceful_ Konoha.

"Well? Do we reveal it to them or not?"

"We don't. It'll be much easier to explain if they thought we were different people. Even better, we don't tell anyone other than Sandaime."

"But they have already seen what we look like! If we're going to integrate normal Anbu, then we're going to drop the masks at some point, and putting on a genjutsu will never work. You can always use Mangekyo, but that will not last."

"What about your seal?"

Something flashed in Naruto's eyes, but the second after she had a frown of her delicate face. "What seal?"

"Hn, dobe. You know what I'm talking about, that seal you were making for the others to conceal their identity."

Naruto's shoulder tensed and she hissed out in a low, aggressive voice, "Look, I really don't-"

Sasuke glared at Naruto, sharingan active since there was no one outside anymore. "Naruto. Don't play dumb with me. I know of that seal you developed at the end of the war, for a year I saw you working on it hours after you ordered the curfew."

"What are you talking about? The only seals I've ever done were mainly used for escape or annihilate-and-run situations, a few times for interrogation, and who'd ever want a lame concealing seal anyways? Really, I don't see what you're taking about, are you sure you had not been hallucinating?" Naruto's eyes shone with confusion, bright and blue under the fading sunlight, but Sasuke knew better. She always did. Unlike anyone else who'd just shrug and move on to another subject like Naruto was used to, Sasuke saw the lingering pain and uncertainty behind the thick veil of happiness. So, even if she usually let it go when Naruto becomes too tense, Sasuke went against her better judgment and pushed her friend again for an answer.

Looking pleadingly at her best friend's hard gaze, Naruto sighed dejectedly. She dropped her head to look at the ground, her red bangs casting a shadow over her eyes. "Sasuke, I really... that... they, they had promised to use it, then they... oh Kami Sasuke don't-_theydidn't return andit'smyfault Sasuke-!_"

The Uchiha's eyes widened at the unexpected outburst before softening, understanding in her black eyes. She slowly, awkwardly took the redhead in her arms and whispered as softly as she could. "It's okay... we don't have to use it, it's okay." Naruto hugged her back, tightening her grip almost painfully. "But... but then..."

"It's okay, we will find another way. It's okay, you don't have to." Naruto muffled her whimper in Sasuke's black shirt and nodded her acceptance. They remained like that for a few minutes, not speaking, basking in the last rays of warm sunlight. Only when Naruto's breathing became frightfully silent did Sasuke notice that her teammate had fallen asleep from exhaustion. Smiling almost too softly, making her appear years younger, she took Naruto protectively in her arms before leaving in a Shunshin.

* * *

_-A week later, Anbu outside training ground 7_

"Himei, this is Hachidori, your new captain and you opponent."

Himei eyed the Anbu standing a few feet away from her carefully, taking in everything she could possibly use to her advantage. He was slightly taller than her, standing somewhere around 6 feet, with a lean body and clearly defined muscles, though not bulky like most Inuzuka. His shoulders were broad but not overly so, he had long limbs that obviously gave him a longer reach than most and his build classified him as a mid to long-range fighter that mainly uses speed, but Himei knew that the power behind his attacks were certainly nothing to laugh at. He seemed to be proficient at the very least in taijutsu, skills unknown when it comes to genjutsu, but if the long fingers and the calluses indicated anything, he was probably a ninjutsu specialist. His stance was professional, tense yet relaxed, with the usual feeling of dread and the small amount of killing intent lingering in the air, too small to be anything more than disturbing yet big enough to make anyone nervous. Well, anyone but another Anbu. The shock of blue eyes behind the purple hummingbird mask, staring into her own, almost made her recoil. She steeled herself and exhaled through her nose, calming her heart before it even began to beat frantically at the sight of her – Kami forbid - father. Then, she smelled something that made her nose itch, something viscous and metallic and _very_ familiar.

'_Who would have though he had been good enough already with that to be able to use it on the battle field at the age of 19?'_

'_**Of course he had been, Kit! Why, you thought he had been able to design our seal on a whim without years of experiences to back him up? Your father had always been a genius, your mother only had to start him on fuinjutsu with a few simple traditional Uzumaki seals and he managed to get his seal mastery three years later with her giving him a few hints here and there from time to time. Hell, he even gave that perverted sensei of yours a few suggestions and pretty much surpassed him and your mother in the art by the time he hit 22.'**_

'_Ero-sennin?Whoa, and I thought he was the one to teach dad about fuinjutsu.'_

'_**As talented as that man was, Kit, he wasn't the type to teach anyone anything without a very good reason, and at that time there was none.'**_

'_Yeah, I guess. But isn't this exciting? I got to compare my seals with those of the greatest seal master of all time after Rikudou-jiji!'_

The truth is, with Jiraiya dead before she even created anything more than regular exploding tags, she never got a chance to properly learn the sealing art, and with the Akatsuki mess and the war, she had just gone and devised seals by trying them out on her kage bunshin. She was bound to have figured out a pattern with her affinity with the art and the few thousands clones that had seals blow up in their faces, so she got her seal mastery a year into the war at age seventeen. Now, she mainly uses Uzumaki-type runes and Uzumaki-based seals, a kind of fuinjutsu that mostly uses circles and spirals, sometimes including handseals and biju chakra into the mix when barriers or large scale seals are required.

'_**I'd like to be able to say otherwise, but you won't last fifteen minutes with your resistance seals on against your father at the level he'd been when I fought him at age twenty-four, but right now you'd probably be evenly matched if your don't go biju mode or sage mode. I'll consider taking off a few resistance seals just in case, though.'**_

'_Ah yes, those. Thanks Kurama!__Though... what if anything happens?'_

'_**As long as it doesn't trigger any memories you should be fine, but if anything goes wrong I'll hold the memories back, but as you know well I can only suppress them for so long, and you already have so much supressed that you'll have to release them soon or you risk losing your mental and emotional control.'**_

'_That will be enough. We will worry about my mental state later.'_

"Well, shall we proceed?" Himei and Hachidori both nodded and Sarutobi laid out the rules. "Since this is a shinobi assessment, I would have you both not holding back to be able to properly analyse your skills. However, do refrain from doing large-scale jutsus to at least preserve the trees around the training ground. No killing blows, all weapons allowed, and you have a time limit of an hour, but I will end the match when I deem I have seen enough. All activities are restricted to this training ground."

Silently, the two Anbu fluidly got into their stances, feet apart and hands outstretched in different poses.

"Begin!" he shouted and quickly leaped back.

Nether moved. Instead, they studied each other, trying to find a fault in their respective stance that they could use. Suddenly, without warning, Hachidori shot toward Himei at incredible speed, aiming for a jab to the temple. Naruto dodged to the side, twisting her feet and lowering her body so that she was almost parallel to the ground. She caught Hachidori's legs between her own, still airborn, then put her hands on the ground, squeezed and used her momentum to spin _fast_. A muffled gasp escaped from Hachidori, but he managed to escape from the hold by exchanging place with a nearby log. Not a second later, said log was broken in several pieces, bark falling everywhere.

Ignoring the sharp pain in his legs, Hachidori jumped a few feet back, performing handseals as he did so. **"Fuuton: Daitoppa!"**

The powerful blast of wind swept through the entire area, sweeping up dust and small pebbles, but nothing else happened.

Naruto was no where in sight.


	16. Chapter 16, Anbu Headquarters

**Chapter 16: Anbu Headquarters**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Kishimoto-sensei in any way, shape or form, and I do not own the few Latin quotes that will pop out here and there. I however own the plot and the Ocs, as well as the description of some places and the characterization of some less-known characters in the original anime/manga.**

**A/N: I'm continuously late and I know that. I'm sorry for it, but I want you guys to know that I'm very busy and I had a few (more like a lot) of personal problems this past few years. I'm trying, but I don't know if I'll even finish this. I hope that I can, but I won't promise anything. This is an important chapter though with a lot of clarifications on the story since I worked out quite a few kinks this week. Enjoy!**

**P.S: I went back a few chapters and I was cringing continuously. My English was bad. It still is. So expect to have major updates soon, or maybe I'll wait until I finish the entire story to rewrite chapters 1-10.**

* * *

'_Where did she go?'_

Hachidori sent out a small wave of concentrated chakra to sweep the training ground. Still nothing.

Slightly on edge, Hachidori warily looked toward the Hokage, standing at the other end of the training ground where a few boulders sat. He noticed another person in the shadows of the tree branches, dropping down a step behind the Sandaime. The Anbu Commander stood up and tilted his chin in greetings, which Hachidori returned with a frown. What was he doing here?

A subtle detail suddenly caught his eyes. His eyes widened as he leaped back, the ground he stood on a second ago exploding violently and sending chunks of earth flying. Hachidori crossed his hands before his mask and squinted his eyes as rocks and soil rained down, dirtying his armor and making his skin scratchy. A familiar redhead jumped out of the deep gash, her dull white armor slightly blackened by the earth.

Taking out a kunai to block a well aimed volley of shuriken, Hachidori quickly closed the distance between them and threw a punch that was efficiently blocked, grunting as a clawed hand grazed lightly his thigh. He almost wanted to reach beneath his mask to wipe off the sweat, but the Anbu Commander's stare halted him.

Hachidori's movements were controlled and disciplined, each blow carefully calculated whereas Himei's were in complete disarray, not showing any preference for any type of attack.

It was as if there were no thought pattern – she would throw a punch, create an opening only to attack a well defended part, then crouch down only to jump up right afterwards – but even then it was as if the furious attacks were organized, wild as they are, ingenious in the way an attack would shift into another without losing momentum.

Himei fought as if dancing, each blow fluid and sliding in the air and her jumps were more of graceful leaps and strides than the simple movement caused by the uncoiling of her muscles. She moved in circles and spirals and rings, he realized. Even when she jumped, she would finish with a series of catwheels and backflips and she spun often, to add momentum to a strike or to dodge around a punch or to deliver an airborne kick.

The air didn't move _around_ her.

No, she moved _with_ the air, glided along with it, and all of a sudden the way she fought didn't seem so strange anymore.

Hachidori's usually offensive style was now constantly kept on the defensive, his opponent's wild onslaught not allowing any space to counter-attack nor time to get away. As the match dragged on, Himei became noticeably faster and faster as Hachidori began to tire. She managed to get a few hits in, making him wheeze and pant for all but a second at the unexpected force behind the strikes – it couldn't be sheer force, but he didn't feel any chakra on her limbs. It was something else, more sinister and powerful than simple chakra, moving and flowing all the same but _different _as if it was chakra but isn't anymore, and trying out his theory he broke the flow of his style and sent an awkwardly angled uppercut to her jaw.

Surprised, she dodged to the side after shifting her weight on her left leg, but she didn't see the wrong angle of the punch and it hit her directly on the throat, blocking her breathing for a second as her hands went to her neck in shock and pain. She coughed, the sound raspy and throaty, and Hachidori used the opportunity and kicked her square in the chest, cracking a few ribs and sending her skidding a few meters back.

He grabbed a kunai by its ring and held it in a reverse grip in his sweaty palm, closing the distance in a second and slashed, but Himei lost her footing just as she brought her arms up to take the hit – and the blade slipped upward on the porcelain with all the momentum of Hiachidori's wide swing, and lodged itself in her throat with a wet gurgle.

And then the training ground felt all too silent after the heavy _thud_ of a body hitting the ground, lifeless and uncontrolled like a puppet, and the sound of metal ripped out of flesh followed by the dull _clang_ of the kunai as it landed on the blood-soaked mud.

Hachidori saw through his slightly blurred and hazy vision the Sandaime step forward, his mouth opened and saying words he did not hear, wrinkles so much deeper and numerous than what he remembered, and he thought, in a corner of his mind, that the Hokage looked much older under the heat and the sun. The blond felt more than saw the Anbu Commander's shadow right behind, tall and commanding, sending a message that he had not heard.

The Hokage, however, halted and stiffened.

He didn't know why the Hokage was stopped nor did Hachidori realize that the stickiness under his mask was Himei's blood, dripping from his eye holes and sticking to his uniform and disappearing under all the black. He didn't understand why the air felt so cold while he had black clothes and he didn't understand why he was trembling and shaking and felt like retching, and he didn't know why the redhead on the ground wasn't moving, but all came back to one and _he did understand._

Then there was a _pop _and the fifth boulder at the other end of the clearing wavered before fading into a panting and staggering Anbu.

"Shit… that hurt like hell, brat."

Hachirori tensed then faltered, and had to shake his head before he was able to form a clear sentence.

"How did you...?" Hachidori asked, bewildered.

Himei chuckled, her voice deep and scratching. "Shadow clones."

Sarutobi only sighed, still standing on the sidelines, relieved.

"Damn brat, making me worry like that," he muttered.

The Anbu Commander squeezed his shoulder – just like Sarutobi's sensei used to, and he heard the distant and comforting and warm voice muttering _Saru _and saw the brilliant smile and the long, black hair – and the weight on his shoulder left. He blinked, and his trusted subordinate – _Kuga_ – hummed thoughtfully.

"Himei-san performed Kawarimi with the clone that was disguised as a boulder then did a Henge on herself as her shadow clone took the hit. Ingenious," he commented, watching the spar with interest.

Hachidori sighed in relief and nodded. "It makes sense. Though when did you make the switch? I would normally have felt it if you used chakra. I recall shadow clones are usually rather chakra-expensive."

"I made it before the match."

"You mean...?"

Himei smirked behind her mask. "Yes. The one you've been fighting at the start was the bunshin. I switched in just before you swept the area with your chakra. Since you were using chakra you cannot sense anything that contains less chakra than what you were sending out, which basically leaves a 'hole' in your vision. You could see it if you focused hard enough on the image you get back from the chakra wave. I switched out right before you pulled that stunt at the end," she explained, rubbing her neck as she growled, "Though it didn't prevent the phantom pain."

Hachidori nodded again, then pulled out a scroll from his pouches and unsealed a standard Anbu tanto.

"How can your shadow clones last that long?"

'_The attitude doesn't match but… she had also used shadow clones.'_

Himei eyed the weapon and took Hakuhio out of the seal she had on her wrist. "You may have noticed my larger chakra coils and reserves. Well, I just pump my bunshins with twice as much chakra and voilà!"She took out the beautifully crafted katana out of its scabbard, the black and blue hilt catching sunlight and glowing faintly as if responding to the call of its master.

"So, kid's gloves off, huh?" she asked, and a wet, slurping sound, evoking a canine licking its snout in anticipation, was heard as she dragged her tongue over her lips playfully. Her dark red hair, dry under the sun and slightly spiked by the heat, reminded Hachidori of warm fur, and for a moment he wanted to stroke that harsh-looking hair, be accepted by the untameable animal she seemed to be.

But then his eyes widened as his mind registered her early actions. _'Unsealing without time lag!'_ Alerted to the fact that his opponent was most probably a fellow Seal Master, he got into a new stance and tilted his head. "Come."

Himei's grin grew impossibly wide behind her mask before she shot toward Hachidori, their weapons colliding with brutal force as she let out an eager, bestial growl before they separated.

Hachidori took the blow easily and attacked, his muscles tingling from the shock. He wasn't fazed by Himei's show of bloodlust and chased his opponent throughout the field, slashing, ducking and rolling – always moving, never, never stopping. He found out that Himei was a master at dodging – dancing around his blows almost quicker than he could follow and laughing merrily, taunting him. His temper was rising against his will until a frustrated grunt found its way out of his lips.

She merely chuckled. "I like this one. Smells clean and he can actually keep up. But for how long?" she finished in a sing-song voice.

And she disappeared again.

Hachidori gasped as he suddenly was thrown into the air with brutal force before another blow sent him crashing down to the earth, his bones cracking painfully and his ears ringing. He glanced up to the black eyeholes of his opponent's mask, finding mismatched golden and cerulean eyes, framed by thick, blood-red lashes. This close he can pick up the slight trail of her scent, all warm and dangerous, of warm fur and the hint of blood and steel.

"My turn, little nestling."

And the world was pain.

His brain wasn't even registering all the blows for it couldn't keep up. Hachidori gritted his teeth, biting his lip so hard to keep from screaming it bled, droplets of red liquid dripping down and following his jawline to his throat. The sight only seemed to excite Himei more, as she purred in amusement and spun even faster. A small voice in the back of his mind reminded him that she was still striking in places that heal quickly and aiming to incapacitate, and was by this effect holding back.

'_Really, how stupid was I to sign up for this a week after that disastrous mission?'_

Another succession of blows and lacerations pulled him out of his thoughts and made him snarl.

She snorted. "Yes, that's more like it. Let it out." Her smirk was almost cruel. "_And scream._"

He lost it.

In a bright flash of yellow light even under the morning sun, he appeared in front of her and delivered a devastating kick to her stomach and torso, cracking ribs and sending her flying. She landed on all four, snarling and growling low in her throat like an enraged animal as she coughed up blood.

'_So he had already developed the Hiraishin.'_

"You're a worthy opponent, I'll give you that. But you'll regret making me mad!"

She charged, still on all four, going toward him at inhuman speed. This time he dodged around her, his bright hair leaving behind a trail of yellow as if lightning. They exchanged quick blows for several tense minutes, flashing across the training ground with colossal force and animosity. Himei threw occasionally a kunai at seemingly random moments and places before she abruptly stopped in mid-strike and launched a kunai at point-blank range toward Hachidori, missing horribly and confusing the Anbu captain.

She performed a series of hand seals before leaping back.

"**Genkan fuuin: Hatsuwamon!"**

"**Suiton: Sokubaku!"**

"**Tenki fuuin: Rakurai!"**

Sarutobi, upon hearing the jutsus, distanced himself even more, now up and behind the strong branches of trees, and whistled. "Multiple layers! That is quite the powerful combo. Good use of sealing too."

Hachidori, though impressed, wasn't quite as gleeful. He stumbled as the ground he stood on suddenly fissured, a massive seal appearing with him right in the center. It covered a third of the training ground, and Hachidori only then realized that the kunai actually lined up in a spiral pattern of what he thought was a containment seal base.

His curiosity cost him as he contemplated the master seal during a split second, flashing away a moment too late. Water shot up from the cracked ground and swiftly wrapped themselves around his legs, squeezing as tight as they could without shattering his bones, and just as it was becoming more than just uncomfortable – it hurt, badly, but he didn't want to acknowledge it – he found that the water felt way squishier than it should be. It wasn't exactly ice so the thick tendrils could still move around, but he still found the cold unpleasant through his light clothes and armor.

It was much more difficult to make chakra travel through solids than liquids. A simple chakra surge would have disrupted the chakra flow in the jutsu and ended it or at least slowed it down, but now Hachidori can't move anything other than his rather useless arms and he was freezing. It did calm him down somewhat, and he nearly growled at how stupid he had been. Losing his cognitive abilities during a fight with a strong opponent was a bad idea. Losing control against a powerful, calculating, manipulative opponent with scarily feral instincts was as good as suicide.

Needless to say he still tried, only to find out that somehow he cannot _feel _hischakra anywhere near the rather, his chakra was swirling around the tendrils, so rapidly he cannot get a proper grasp on it – as if it was being sucked in. He gritted his teeth at the biting cold of the icy water against his quickly numbing and unresponsive legs, then felt the temperature drop not only on his lower half but also all around his body.

Taking a careful sniff, Hachidori craned his head and looked at the giant grey cloud that hovered over the training ground, then shifted his apprehensive gaze toward the clear and bright blue sky over Konoha. The last jutsu she had called out had something to do with seals and lightning. He grimaced slightly. That sounds bad. _Very bad._

Then he screamed.

It was intense and it was _painandpainandpain_ and the world went white and it _hurt_, it _burnt_ and he wanted – needed – to make it _stop but it wouldn't _and-

His entire body shook terribly as he screamed, his voice cracking and he almost blacked out. It felt as if his blood was boiling. Thunderbolts rained down around him, never touching yet hurting him all the same, the electricity trapped inside him as it circulated around the water tendrils. Thunder roared high in the sky, a low rumbling that seemed to go on for ages, and lightning flashed, zigzagging in the sky before hitting the ground in an angry hiss, creating blackened lines on the ground as the light made the interior of the seal glow a blinding white.

Hachidori's trapped form disappeared for a moment as a dome of white encased his body, the electricity crackling in lines of light purple as the glowing seal strained to contain the wild force.

Just as the Hokage yelled a distraught "Enough!" the dome suddenly collapsed and the lightning gradually ceased a few seconds later. However, if wasn't much of a relief for the Anbu captain for the electricity in his body refused to leave, leaving him a sizzling and trembling mess on the burnt ground.

Himei took pity of him and removed one of the kunai she had thrown and the entire, giant seal collapsed with a hiss and melted into the ground. She pocketed the kunai and hurried toward Hachidori as the electricity finally left his body. He curled up on himself, still trembling as his hands grasped his smoking clothes in a painful grip, looking as if barely hanging on consciousness, and Himei felt a small amount of guilt at subjecting him at one of her worst and most powerful jutsu.

She approached and shook his shoulder, planning on healing him somewhat.

The body turned into smoke.

Cold metal brushed her tender neck and she watched, unblinking. The weapon was trembling dangerously like the hoarse but firm voice behind her.

"F-forfeit."

She smirked, eyes flashing gold behind her mask. "Look again," she said arrogantly, head tilted to the right.

Hachidori painfully turned his head and caught a glint of silver at his side, ready to cut him in two.

He gritted his teeth but said nothing.

As soon as gentle claps resounded behind them, he collapsed, barely caught by an alarmed redhead. Her hiss was replied by a weak attempt to a chuckle.

"Amazing match, though I would've appreciated a bit more consideration to the level of jutsu used. I still need the both of you on the active roster by the end of the week," the Sandaime commented, directing a sharp gaze toward Himei who scratched the back of her neck.

"Sorry."

The Hokage smiled at her. "Don't worry, I'll let it go this time. It was expected, I'm already happy that you at least hadn't completely destroyed the training ground. It's usually much worse with high-level shinobi assessments."

Himei snickered. Konoha had been most prosperous during the Shinobi wars. The First and the Second wars had known the power of the Senju brothers and Uchiha Madara, but the Third Shinobi war was the period where Konoha had bred most of its well known shinobi: the Sennin, The Sandaime, also known as the Professor, the Yondaime and his nickname the Yellow Flash, as well as the White Fang. It was also when Itachi and Kakashi started taking missions.

She refused to think that this time she will not be part of the newest generation. She refused to even think about the Konoha twelve, because she will think of the war and of Hinata.

Himei refused to remember, but didn't want to forget.

"Shall we go to the hospital to patch the both of you up?" Sarutobi asked, looking worriedly at Hachidori.

"No need for that old man, I'm going to take care of him. Besides, the medics will probably confine him longer than needed and you won't be able to get him back before a month. We'll visit Tsunade later if I miss anything anyway, she'll get him back in shape in no time if I don't do it first," Himei pointed out. She saw Hachidori briefly stare at her with something akin to disbelief. Sarutobi nodded.

"Reasonable enough. However, I expect both of you in my office by Friday."

Himei silently answered by pressing her chakra-coated hands to Hachidori's neck and stomach, her brow furrowed in concentration and her eyes determined. The body beneath her stiffened for a moment before relaxing again. Sarutobi, seeing as he was needed elsewhere, discreetly left in a Shunshin.

The treatment lasted several minutes, neither talking nor feeling the need to as Himei massaged gently Hachidori's muscles, healing tears and bruises as she helped him go through post-chakra exposure shock. Both were in their own worlds, pondering over the identities of the other.

Hachidori defiantly thought the redhead was familiar. He surely would have remembered that shade of hair if he saw it once, because he knew a redhead who was more or less a friend – and he liked red. It could be during his last mission, but the amount of drugs the medic-nins had pumped into him upon his return had made a good job at making him dizzy and his memories all jumbled together for the past week. He was curious, that's for sure. It had been years since he met anyone his age – he assumed she couldn't be older or younger than him for a year at most – that can keep up with his speed and utterly defeat him. Not to mention as a fellow Seal Master – yet he assumed again – and comrade.

'_Her chakra was cold too. It was warm, deep down, but it felt cold.'_

He had thought about a 'she' twice already.

He was sure he knew her, just not from where.

As for Himei, she knew exactly who Hachidori was. Namikaze Minato, Seal Master, Anbu captain, the greatest shinobi to ever grace the Elemental Nations and future Yondaime Hokage. The first time she saw him, or rather Shiro, she hadn't given it much thoughts – but now that she was so, so close, she couldn't help but to stare. To get even closer. Maybe it had been the hair. Shiro had long hair, almost longer than her own. He was _different, _his voice had been softer, his jawline effeminate, his eyes an icy blue instead of a clear summer sky – he wasn't Minato.

But now, now it was more…complicated. It was the same as Konan, the same urge to hold that someone close so that they wouldn't escape her grasp anymore, the same bittersweet pain at the realization that they were dead yet _there, _still warm and moving and not controlled by anyone. The same feeling of helplessness and of desperate hope, the anger and sorrow all mixed into a tight ball of _something_ she couldn't begin to understand that threatens to burst out of her throat.

Yet it was different.

Hachidori had her hair, her eyes, her skin color. He had her voice, her hands, her smiles. He had everything she had. Or was it the other way around? The Namikaze Minato she knew had been a Seal Master. He had liked red hair. He had known an Uzumaki. He had been an outstanding Hokage. He had battled a demon and came out victorious and had killed his kind, kind heart for his beloved village, for he had willingly sealed the demon in his own precious child. He had been a man of various things, kindness, love and power. He had loved and had been loved.

He was her father and she hated him.

Hated him for his love, hated him for sacrificing his child – her – and hated him for his too kind and loyal heart. Hated him for leaving her behind, hated him for believing in her. Hated him for giving her the burden of saving the world.

She hated, hated, _hated _everything yet she understood.

And him, too. He had understood and embraced her hatred.

He understood, but now he doesn't anymore.

She wanted to cry.

When most of the bruises turned a pale shade of yellow and the cuts were closed, leaving behind tender and pink skin, Himei cut the chakra flow to her hand and took out a roll of bandages and salves from her left pouch. Hachidori groaned as the cold, numbing effect of her chakra disappeared. He felt better and his wounds didn't sting anymore, but his muscles were still rather sore and stiff.

"Here." She threw him a small vial filled with oil-like substance. "Rub this on the cuts after a shower before going to sleep or in the morning, before your daily work-out. You can also use it after a training session but make sure that the skin is clean. Tell me if you have any problems when you apply this to your wounds, are you allergic to anything?"

"Mango."

"Then you should be fine."

Hachidori put the vial in his emergency pouch, between the bandages so that it doesn't break. He remained silent as she treated his wounds, rubbing salves and herbs on the different scratches and scorch marks. He flexed his fingers and winced at the small ach, still feeling the slight tingle and numbness at his fingertips – it was still much better than not being able to move at all he supposed, so he didn't voice his complain. She finished bandaging his wounds a few minutes later and gave him a small tap on the shoulder.

"There, all fixed! Rest for a day or two and you'll be as good as new! Does it hurt anywhere else?" Hachidori only stared at her incredulously from behind his mask, not responding.

Himei stared back stubbornly. "What? Do I have something on my face? Or is my mask crooked?"

He slowly shook his head as if coming out of a daze. "No… it's just that you're, well, different. I mean, before and now… how should I say it… I guess it's because you're so gentle with me now?"

Himei grinned. "I guess you could say so. On duty I tend to get more… bestial. It helps me read my surrounding since I kinda just let my instincts run loose. That way I won't block anything unconsciously. But now I don't have any reason to act like that anymore!"

Hachidori nodded thoughtfully. True, certain Anbu tend to act differently behind the mask, but that usually comes with experience and is usually reserved for tracking specialists like the Inuzuka. The files he had indicated her as an Anbu specialized in Infiltration and Direct Combat with _some_ experience in their field.

A hand suddenly was in his face, almost making him jump. Following the clawed and gloved fingers up to a slender but muscular arm to a painted mask, Hachidori grinned and took the offered hand to pull himself up.

"Thank you," he said, looking into Himei's eyes. Then, in a fluid movement, he reached to the back of his head and pulled on the red strand, detaching his mask then fastening it on his belt.

"Namikaze Minato, Anbu captain, 19 years old. Code name Hachidori. Nice to meet you!" he smiled cheerfully at Himei, who hesitated before shaking their hands.

"Himei, 18 years old. Nice to meet you… captain."

Minato pouted, disappointed. "You're not showing me your face?"

Himei averted her eyes.

Minato laughed and slung an arm over her shoulders. "Come on! Why don't I show you around the Headquarters?"

Himei groaned.

Minato only laughed at her reluctance.

'_Yep, she's definitely interesting.'_

* * *

-Naruto-

'_This is bad,'_ she thought as she was dragged around by Minato.

Kurama was fully enjoying the situation, chuckling madly in her mind. _**'Really, Kit, really. I'm simply amazed at how lucky you are.'**_

'_Shut up Kyu! Do you realize how bad it is right now for us? We weren't even supposed to see him ever again! He can easily sniff us out!'_

The Kyuubi grumbled under her breath. _**'Yeah, I know. But does it matter? It's not as if you had been careful before. He knows who you are, it just a matter of time until he sees the link between Uzumaki Naruto and Himei.'**_

'_Exactly!' _Naruto hissed. _'And that's what we have to avoid no matter what! Now that Sasuke will be gone, we have to be extra careful! We have four years to deal with the war, Danzo, Hanzo and Madara, and your counterpart is still roaming somewhere, free for Madara to control! Since we'll be the only ones able to anything productive for the next year we need to be as efficient as possible, and having someone sniffing around is as good a distraction can get. We cannot afford to be distracted and we both know it.'_

'_**As you wish, Kit. But do you really have to? You know you can't run away forever.'**_

'_Who said I was running away, you stupid fox? I'm merely doing what's right for the future!'_

'_**Watch you words, foolish human!' **_ The fox thundered, its large paws slamming against the ground fiercely as it rose on its hind legs, its large maw opened on a row of glistening teeth, growling and snarling at her tenant. _**'I'm the great Kyuubi, lord of all Demons! Don't forget your place, human, for I call you partner only as long as you stay true to yourself! Doing what's right for the future? Don't make me laugh! What future? It doesn't exist anymore! Your mere existence here had changed everything. This isn't the past! This is just as real as your future, another reality! What is there to do?'**_

At that Naruto let go of the attention she kept on the real world and stormed into her mindscape.

'_What do you mean, nothing to do?! We have to end this war and prevent the Fourth Shinobi War from even starting! How is that nothing? So many lives can be saved, so many people would live to see another day! Even if this is not my place to be, even if I'll never be accepted, my friends are still here! Even if this is not my home, my village, my world, it is THEIR world! Their home! How is that nothing? Tell me, Kurama!'_

Kyuubi sat back down, narrowing its crimson eyes and leaning forward so that its muzzle was pressed to Naruto's nose.

'_**You mean to tell me that you haven't realized yet? The previous attack on Konoha was not supposed to happen – have never happened in the future. Your father had never been captured in the past as far as we know. Your meeting with Konan was suspicious and highly improbable, and that brat – Shiro, I believe – had never been mentioned anywhere, not even in your parents' journals.' **_ It changed its posture and crossed its front legs, resting its head on its paws.

'_**Everything has changed, Naruto. You must accept that. I'm not telling you not to do anything. In fact, I'd gladly help you get rid of the Uchiha annoyance. I'm only saying that things will not be as they seem to be anymore. I've come to realize that by going back to the past we've erased the future. Everything that will happen in the next years will never be the same as they were before. Actually, I'd go as far as to say that this is a different world. Do you understand?'**_

Naruto shifted her gaze to the deep green grass tickling her feet, staring stubbornly at the ground. Kyuubi waited patiently for her host to respond, and several minutes later the redhead let out a shaky breath.

'_Yeah… yeah, I think I do.'_

Her small chuckle was dry and hoarse.

'_I think I always did. I just never believed it until now, you know? Didn't want to believe it. No one will be the same anymore. My friends – they will never be the ones I had called precious. And wouldn't it be weird? I'm older now. Eighteen years too old. I guess… I guess I have to let go now that they are really gone.'_

'_**There's no hurry, Kit. You don't have to forget. Just… take your time and one day, make a new family. It gets lonely here, I miss being able to go outside and play. You had interesting friends.'**_

Naruto let out another painful chuckle, more heartfelt this time.

'_Am I selfish? For wanting them back?'_

The giant fox hummed in thought.

'_**Well, it depends on your understanding of what's 'selfish' and what's 'selfless'.'**_

''_Selfish and 'selfless'…'_

And suddenly she thinks of gentle Konan and the way she had died, red-haired and heavily biased Nagato, Jiraiya and his eternal devotion to his love, unwanted yet silently cherished.

She thinks of Sasuke and his revenge and of Itachi, fiercely loyal shinobi and a loving brother who had nothing in the cruel world but his promises and duties.

She remembers the Sandaime – the old, old man with a scarred, gentle heart that had done more than expected yet nothing that had truly changed anything – and Kakashi, who had never asked for anything more than being able to have someone close. Then her thoughts drifted to the tales of her sensei's father who had given his answer to a cruel choice and had paid for it.

At last she thinks of _him_, Minato with a brilliant mind and a soft heart hardened by war and loss, or at least what she knows and still recalls from the brief flashes of words and tears they had exchanged. She thinks of what he had done to her – and her hate of him, her loathing that can never be expressed and the love that she can never throw away – and she understands a little.

Fate had toyed with all of them and given nothing back, wrenching precious feelings from their desperately searching hands and leaving nothing but a gaping, empty space that aches to be filled yet can never be so fully.

They had been selfish in their wishes but selfless in their love for home. For Konoha.

They had thrown everything away to protect it and had willingly done so until they had nothing to give anymore.

They had never stopped loving and that love made them strong but also killed them.

Naruto had not been different from them, but now she will be, because all of them loved their families and loved Konoha, and had all been forced to chose one of the two at some point in their lives.

If they chose their families they will be perceived as selfish, and if they chose Konoha they were selfless.

And Naruto swore to never, never make that choice, because, as unrealistic as that sounds, Konoha is going to be her family.

'_Kyu?'_

'_**Yes Kit?'**_

'_Kyu… thank you.'_

'_**Don't mention it Kit. Now get out.'**_

Naruto blinked as her world suddenly turned black. Several seconds later, concerned blue eyes overwhelmed her vision instead of a black muzzle and warm fur.

"Himei-san? You okay there?"

She blinked again, confused at what Minato was doing.

"Captain? What's going on?" Her voice was slightly sluggish and she felt her cheeks color slightly at the slip-up, shoulders still tense and muscles ready to jump at the slightest provocation.

He smiled at her. "I should be asking you the same thing. We were walking down the hall to the cafeteria when you suddenly stopped."

He saw the tension in her shoulders but never mentioned it.

"Ah," she said, scratching the back of her neck, "sorry, I didn't realize. I guess I was more tired than I thought." It was a lie and they both knew it, but Minato chose to not point it out.

"Come on," he said, tugging her unmoving arm. "Lunch will get cold."

She nodded and let herself be dragged gently, not knowing what to say. They ran into a few Anbu on the way, Minato greeting them cheerfully and Naruto sending them small, uncharacteristically shy nods whenever she can. She felt their curious stares on her back but said nothing, happy to remain silent and ignoring them as her blond captain had.

Finally they reached the heavy, fireproof doors of the Anbu cafeteria. Minato tapped a panel next to him with his clawed index, the green screen forming ripples before a soft click was heard. Himei jumped at the sound, her hand brushing against her kunai pouch then lowering again. Minato saw the obviously paranoid and jumpy motion but let it go again, and Himei was glad for his silence.

She didn't feel like talking anytime soon.

Minato pushed on the doors and opened them with seemingly no effort and looked back. Naruto noted that the hinges looked new, unlike the doors that, despite their clean metallic shine, had various scratches along the edges and looked to have been run into a few times.

"Here we are! That panel is chakra sensitive. Your chakra signature should already have been keyed in. you only need to send a small flare of chakra in it to deactivate the seals on the doors. They are obviously fire proof and are usually hermetically sealed so gas attacks are out too. No chance of blowing through it either, the core is made with rough diamond and so is also heat resistant. The cafeteria is open at any hour of the day and is also used as a lounge. We do get visit from old members sometimes, but your chakra signature is always removed the day you quit. Pretty neat, right?" He asked excitedly, blabbering all the way, and Naruto knew that most of it was unneeded details. Her heart did settle down somewhat at the heartwarming attempt at making her comfortable and she couldn't help but to relax at the man's soothing yet slightly awkward presence.

Himei inspected silently the seals and found some of them to be strangely familiar despite their obvious differences with the Uzumaki seal matrix. The numerous swirls and soft strokes were a dead give-away, but some components looked foreign and fresher. She grinned behind her mask. "Great work, I assume some of the seals are made by you?"

Minato blushed heavily, now staring at his feet as he shifted from a foot to another in a gesture Naruto found adorable. "Yeah, but I mostly just modified some of them. The main array had been here since the founding of Anbu decades ago – hand made by Mito-sama and the Nidaime Hokage. Jiraiya-sensei had helped me out too, so I wouldn't go as far as to say I made them."

"That's still awesome!" Naruto cried out, despite wincing interiorly at the mention of her mentor. "Being able to even comprehend Mito-sama's work is prodigious! To be able to insert one's work in a complete array without disrupting the functioning or making it blow up is just unheard of, especially when the original array is so old! Actually, working with one of the Sannin is a great honor on itself!"

Minato muttered a soft 'I guess so', still embarrassed by the blatant admiration the redhead displayed.

"But…"

The Anbu captain tilted his head curiously at the softer than usual tone.

"I guess it really hadn't changed much, huh?"

Minato frowned questioningly.

'_Hadn't changed…?'_

"Well," Himei suddenly said, turning back to look at him, "let's go eat!"

Then, she dragged him to the row of tables where various foods were arranged in a buffet style so that people could take what they wished without being forced into a waiting line.

"So, what do you suggest?" she asked as she picked up a tray for him.

"Well, this is the hot section where fresh food is cooked four times a day, once every 6 hours. Then you have the cool section over there," Minato nodded gratefully and explained as he pointed to another row of tables, "That is open the entire day. Anbu often return at odd hours so there's always a hungry mouth somewhere. Retired Anbu are in charge of the kitchen so you won't need to worry about poisoning; they make almost everything, but you have to go to the infirmary to ask for ration bars or soldier pills. I showed you where it was earlier, it's pretty easy to find."

Actually Naruto really didn't know where it was thanks to the fuss with Kyuubi earlier, but she figured she can always try to find it later.

"Great! Then I would suggest soba, we have it almost every day at lunch. The bread is pretty good too, the cooks always experiment with those so you have new flavors coming out almost every week. We have a lot of agemono, the deep-fried dishes contain more calories and we need the energy. I personally prefer tonkatsu." Minato babbled excitedly as he began to put a little bit of everything in his plate.

Himei chuckled at him. "From what I've seen so far, you seem to eat just about everything except seafood."

Surprisingly, the older Anbu groaned. "Yeah, I forgot to mention that those are often experimented with too. I wouldn't touch those if I was you. It can turn pretty lethal faster than you'd think."

Himei raised an unseen eyebrow. "Really? Like what?"

Minato grimaced, eyeing the nearby plate of tempura carefully before picking one and biting a minuscule chunk of the fried shrimp. A second later he ran to the nearest bin and spit it out, heaving and wheezing and coughing.

"Like fried, over-sweetened shrimp enveloped in maple syrup then coated with peanut butter and pepper."

Himei had to consciously repress the urge to gag. "Yeah, that does sound bad."

Minato groaned again, still hunched over the bin. "You have no idea how much."

They waited for Minato's stomach to settle before continuing through the rows of food. A comfortable silence settled between them as they both took the time to pick their food before moving to an unoccupied table. Himei was still rather tense at the unfamiliar surroundings – she had been at the Headquarters only once before it had been destroyed.

Anbu had never been the same again. Many had called this place 'home', be it for a short while or for the rest of their lives. Losing it was like losing Konoha. They had been lost – not because of the war but because they had lost half the reason to fight. They fought for a home to return to, and while Konoha had still been standing it just _wasn't the same_.

Himei still remembers, all carved into the stones of her mindscape and flowing in the clear water were images of ashes and collapsed walls of Headquarters, of _home_, and of all the smiles and recognizable faces of her friends. She remembers screams and then everything was flames and smoke. A few of those faces had been buried along the painfully familiar walls, their bodies all mangled and crushed and deemed not worth enough for even a quick cremation. The attack had taken over half of the Anbu forces, and the survivors had been too far gone to be anything more than mere canon fodders.

'_A suitable end for such a powerful organization,'_ she thought grimly. _'They come and go, silently and unnoticed. It's the best we could have asked for.'_

The Anbu she had known had been similar yet obviously different. They had been… damaged, all about tightly controlled insanity and closer to death than anyone could have been, more than Anbu had ever been in its blood-soaked history. There hadn't been anything glorious about it, their lives so heavily intertwined with sins and battles and bloodbaths that even their breaths reeked of death. Yet she had despite all odds found something precious to protect within the organization. Naruto had found friends there, comrades and brothers and sisters. She had a team that she had called family, because for all they consciously tried to keep away they had still been connected by shared hopes and nightmares.

She still reminisced about those brief, calm times with a fond smile, and Himei let that same smile grace her lips for a split second, hidden behind her mask from the world and herself.

But Minato saw, that tightening of her eyes that showed wariness and fatigue, those lost and glazed-over eyes that seemed to be lost in faraway memories, the tender and soft and silent longing that those azure orbs seemed to radiate. It was heartbreaking, yet all too familiar and entirely bittersweet. Minato saw and understood, and he knew it ran deeper than simple understanding and compassion, but she didn't need any of his empathy, not yet. Not for a long time because she was as strong as anyone can be and beyond and that scared him a little bit, but he could always try.

They sat down at an empty table in a shadowy corner of the room, distanced and private.

'_Two windows on the right, an emergency exit twenty feet on the left, three or more hidden exits on the ceiling and under the tables in a ten meters radius. Forty-three chakra signatures in the room and five in the kitchen.'_ Himei thought with a dry chuckle. _'No, no, I'm safe here. This isn't the war. I can relax.' _

She sucked in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, easing the tension out of her body and clearing her mind. She allowed her muscles to relax, her entire body slumping against her chair as she finally registered and acknowledged the exhausted state of her body and mind.

'_This is bad,' _she realized with a grimace, _'I shouldn't have let myself become this vulnerable in front of him. I need to be more careful.'_

"Captain-"

"Minato. Just Minato is fine."

Himei's head jerked in shock and she raised her eyes to stare at him. He was smiling gently at her, his eyes slightly narrowed in something akin to fondness and encouragement. She let out a shaky breath and conceded.

"Okay. Okay. Ca-Minato." She grimaced.

"Minato." The blond captain's smile widened just a little bit and he nodded.

"Yes?"

"Minato," she paused, as if trying out the word. "I was wondering – I joined your team because of, well, the current lack of a Taijutsu and tracking specialist in your team-" she paused again, wincing at her choice of words.

'_Smooth, Naruto, smooth. Good job at reminding him of his fucked-up mission and of his teammates who are currently in rehabilitation.'_

"Well, why me? I know that I'm registered as a Ninjutsu-Fuuinjustu-Taijutsu specialist and my Anbu files also included Infiltration, but wouldn't you be better off with a support type shinobi? You lack a Genjutsu specialist in your team and I'm, well, passable at best with those and you obviously need a long-range fighter with tracking skills while I'm more adapted to close-to-mid-range frontline fighting. I do have certification for tracking, but I'm not listed as a tracker either. So why me?"

Minato had a pensive look on his face for a while as he munched on his fried pork.

"To tell you the truth, I haven't thought about it either. I guess, well… you could say I was curious."

"Curious?" Himei asked as she reached for one of the curry breads.

Minato nodded. "I've been absent from the Headquarters for a while, and when I returned there were those rumors about two new recruits that joined when I had been away. Apparently they were supposed to be the firsts of an old but never dispatched branch in Anbu, important enough to hold the same powers as the commander. I was curious as to why the Hokage would allow a kunoichi two-man team into Anbu during the war. I asked him as much and he told me to 'see for myself'. It just happened that my team was missing two members." Himei saw the regret, the grief and the anger that flashed across Minato's soft features and she felt bad for the man, but allowed him to continue.

"Sandaime-sama wanted my team back on the field with the recruits as replacement. I actually refused, and I have to admit I hated the idea of some wet-behind-the-ears new recruits replacing my teammates, temporarily or not. But then…" Minato continued in a softer tone, "He looked desperate, as if it was more of a favor than an order – and I couldn't say no. He thanked me. Can you believe that?"

Himei smiled and shook her head. Manipulative old geezer.

"Then he changed his mind and told me that only one of the two will join my team, and he said that the new member had to be tested. I thought that he had finally gone mad. I mean, not to say I'm better or anything, but I've fought against older members and came out victorious almost every time. So I thought, wouldn't I just totally overwhelm the new recruit?"

Himei did feel offended, but Minato was right. Usually the Hokage would never have pitched a recruit against an Anbu captain; it was unpractical and useless unless the Hokage wanted to prove something.

"But, well, I pretty much regret even thinking that now," Minato added sheepishly.

"And then Sandaime-sama saw it fit to inform me _at the end_ that in fact no, I wasn't getting a new recruit, but an old member who had been enrolled early and who'd just rejoined the ranks after a long-term mission. So imagine my surprise at actually meeting one of the 'mysterious, gorgeous and scary' new recruits!" he said with cheer, and Himei couldn't help but to chuckle. When he put it like that, it was indeed somewhat amusing.

The discussion was put on halt as they wolfed down their lunch voraciously. Minato kept sending sneaky glances toward his new teammate, hoping to catch a glimpse of her face. Of course he had no such luck as the redhead kept her head tilted down, her mask raised just below her mouth so that she can eat without anyone even seeing her lips. Himei, when she finished her meal, sent him an amused look that he returned with a childish huff.

"Hey, you just returned right? How was your long-term mission?" Himei's entire body stiffened at the question, her hand pausing in the air, her chopsticks hanging from her mouth.

Minato saw her tense and immediately regretted his indiscretion. "Ah, sorry! I didn't mean to pry! You don't have to answer, honest!" he panicked.

'_Shit,'_ he cursed silently, _'Minato you idiot! You just met her! What mission she goes on isn't any of your business, and it obviously had been traumatizing enough that she had to go back straight to Anbu! She had obviously been emotionally damaged, and you had to point it out!'_

Himei put down her chopsticks with a sharp clang, making Minato twitch, and slowly shook her head.

"No, it's okay. I just… need some time to adjust. So it's fine." She inhaled deeply then exhaled, almost like a sigh. "It's okay, I don't mind. Just give me some time. How about… I list you my abilities instead? That will help on missions since we're going to be on the same team for a year."

Minato almost hit himself. _'Stupid, stupid, stupid! That was an excuse to avoid all discussions involving personal matters if I've ever seen one! Now how are you going to get to know her if she keeps distancing herself?'_

"Okay. But can I go first?" Himei looked at him questioningly behind her mask's eyeholes, her mismatched eyes gleaming with something unreadable, but remained silent. Minato took it as a sign for him to begin.

"My name is Namikaze Minato. I'm nineteen and my birthday is on January 25. I'm Anbu captain of Anbu team 3, team Hummingbird. My shinobi registration number is 53163908, codename Hachidori, and currently listed as Fuuinjutsu specialist. I'm a frontline fighter with mid-to-long range. I mainly use Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, but as you have seen in our match earlier I rely heavily on my speed. Though, well, you're faster so I guess I couldn't really say that…"

Himei waived her hand dismissively.

"Now, now, don't say that captain. You're really good yourself. You got your Seal Mastery at nineteen, and from what I know Fuuinjutsu is a very hard subject that needs both talent and determination to learn. And that jutsu earlier, the one where you flash around the training ground, I haven't heard of it anywhere so you developed it, right? That's awesome don't you think? You had found a way to apply seals by touch and to incorporate space-time jutsu into a transportation seal adapted to animate objects without using a scroll or a seal-key! I don't think I'll ever be able to do anything close to that!"

Minato blushed again as he stared into his plate, embarrassed at the compliments.

"W-well, Himei-san, you're really good too! I mean, you couldn't be much older than me yet you're a senior Anbu member and you've got your Seal Mastery too, right? My Hiraishin is only half-developed at best and I still need to work out a lot of kinks while you already have at least three original jutsus that work wonderfully. Your Kenjutsu is great and your Taijutsu form is unpredictable and efficient, and your Ninjutsu is nothing to laugh at, and then you don't even need to use any seal or jutsu or anything to be that fast and you're really cool, and-"

He was suddenly interrupted by a clear, light laughter. He raised his head to see Himei clutching the table as she laughed, her hand under her mask to muffle the sound, and something in him jumped in joy at seeing the redhead relax finally.

"Hold it Minato, you're babbling!"

Minato blinked, once, twice, and chuckled in embarrassment, soon joining in her mad giggles. Despite their effort to keep their voices down, the sound easily echoed in the large room, attracting the attention of the other Anbu.

"Y-yeah, sorry."

All too suddenly a figure clad in black landed soundlessly beside their table right behind Himei. Gracefully, with the intentional shudder of light porcelain armor, the figure stood, its limbs uncoiling with the feline delicacy of a black panther.

Their laughter died and Himei calmly put her mask back in place and straightened her back, and only then Minato noticed the slow coiling of her muscles under her armor, the tensing of the muscles in her back and limbs as if a predator ready to jump after its prey. The air around her changed, suddenly saturated with something he cannot quite describe. The tension in her had left, as if the wall she had been building between them suddenly crumbled only to reveal another wall, stronger, higher, and more dangerous. Then he realized that this Himei wasn't the friendly teammate anymore.

He was back on the battlefield with Himei, fierce, feral, powerful Himei.

She pushed her chair backwards and stood.

"Getsumei," she called, her voice rougher and deeper, almost like a growl. Minato shivered at the reminder of their spar. She was back on duty.

The slightest tilt of a mask, painted with swirls and straight lines of black ink, was the answer. Minato noticed the bandages covering the Anbu's left shoulder where the red, scorching Anbu tattoo usually is, and a deep sense of dread filled him.

"I'm afraid I'll have to leave our delightful discussion for another day, captain."

Not even a twitch, the whisper of smoke, and they were gone.

Minato stared silently at the chair at the opposite end of the table.

The silence was almost unbearable.

And she hadn't said his name.


	17. Chapter 17, Insanity

**Chapter 17: Insanity**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Kishimoto-sensei in any way, shape or form, and I do not own the few Latin quotes that will pop out here and there. I however own the plot and the Ocs, as well as the description of some places and the characterization of some less-known characters in the original anime/manga.**

**Warning: There will be a bit of madness as the title might have told you (1379 words on a total of 7555, that's not bad right?), and… cannibalism, if you could call it that, and only barely, in the Getsumei section, but if it disturbs you you've been warned!**

* * *

-Himei-

They appeared again in an empty corridor full of doors, some wooden, some obviously newer and reinforced with metal.

Himei shifted. She tapped silently a few bricks on the walls to her left then did the same to the door in front of her, and the air twisted, almost unnoticeably, and suddenly they were inside.

The room was small, with just the bare minimum a person would need. The walls were painted a dusty white and the furniture was made of black wood, with some shelves directly set into the walls. A small bed sat in the corner, trapped between the wall and a small desk littered with papers and scrolls. An open closet, full of black and white uniforms as well as extra sets of weapons, sat nearby.

Himei sighed and reached behind her head to remove the threads keeping her mask in place. It was then dropped carelessly on the recently acquired couch, the porcelain landing with a small dull sound that no one took notice of.

She tugged on her hair, freeing it of its tight ponytail, and left crimson bangs to hang over her left eye, then sat down on the empty bed. It was free of covers and blankets, as if no one had ever slept on it.

"Sasuke. What is it?" it came out, tired and raspy, and the raven tilted her head questioningly.

"Namikaze-san?"

"Aa," Naruto replied almost too carefully. "He's hard to handle, that man. Too perceptive for his own good."

Sasuke nodded and sat down beside her teammate. Her shoulders were still tense, but Naruto can see the relief in them, the remains of stress and something dangerous slowly leaking out, melting away. Her lips twitched upward, slightly, to form an indulging smile.

"You know, when it's only the two of us you don't have to be Getsumei, 'ke-chan."

A long silence was her answer. Finally tentative hands reached to remove the ever present mask. Naruto saw the slight trembling of Sasuke's arms, unnoticeable to most, and concern grew in her heart. What was troubling her friend?

Finally dark eyes met her own, dull and tired, but shining with something Naruto can't quite explain, and had seen only too often. It was thrill, to battle, to revenge; only that now there was a battle to fight with the mind, and a revenge that will be served only too cold.

"You know I hate it when you call me that, Hokage-sama."

Naruto bit her lips, not knowing what to say. Sasuke rarely addressed her so formally. It was always no more than _idiot_, dobe, because it just meant so much more than titles and fame and what they had become. It was a constancy that they had kept alive in the war-torn wasteland, for the sake of old times and fond memories, and Naruto didn't know what to do, not when Sasuke was serious but distressed, not when Sasuke chose to turn to her for help.

"…Report."

"I met him. My commander for this mission."

Naruto lifted an eyebrow, silently asking Sasuke to continue.

"General Hatake will be my commander for the next year. He's a busy man, but very powerful."

And Naruto froze, because she didn't know what to do. She'd seen pictures, in the Hokage tower, before Konoha was gone. She'd seen Kakashi's files, dug out of the ground, torn and dirtied after Pein's attack, and the one time she had been allowed into her old sensei's house she'd seen a picture, of a silver-haired man and a petite, pretty blond woman, standing together happily. Like father like son, and Kakashi was in all and everything similar to his father.

Another pause and Sasuke sighed in a rare display of frustration. "He looks like sensei."

And of course, for them, it will never be Kakashi who looked like someone, because he was unique, because no one can be like that man, live like him and die like him, refusing to go down without bringing a quarter of the Zetsu army with him.

She had seen the man, on her last mission. Knocked out at first, under a tree, and the unmasked face had almost made her _cry _because she had thought, hoped for all but a second, that Kakashi was back. But then he woke up, and helped them with Minato. And she had discovered that indeed, Sakumo wasn't and will never be Kakashi, because he was just that, different. Even if they both had been ANBU, even if they both had carried the code name Kiba, they weren't the same. And she held respect for the man, not because of Kakashi but because she was awed, at his ability to balance war and personality, to never change despite what goes on around him, and in that aspect he was very much like Kakashi. But Kakashi had already been changed, wounded forever by a war seen too early by the eyes of a child of barely eleven years old.

"Hatake-sama is troubled. Kaka – _his son_ had been injured in the attack. He's restless. We will be deployed in two days, and… he fears for his son. The child has not awakened yet."

Naruto frowned. That was troubling news indeed.

"And… Hatake-sama is a very perceptive man. He may become troublesome in the future, just like Namikaze-san. We might have to take… drastic measures against him. Sandaime-sama will approve of a memory seal, I'm sure."

Naruto hesitated. A memory seal? Indeed that would be possible, but again if the older Hatake was anything like his son in the future… it might not be enough to hold him back. What to do? A man, any man like the White Fang is not one to be messed with, but what other choice do they have? Unless… a crazy idea entered Naruto's mind, clear as water yet with too many possibilities to count. But it would be more than helpful if they succeeded.

"Sasuke, instead what do you think of adding him to our plans?" Naruto asked, inspecting the raven's features closely.

The Uchiha frowned, a calculative glint in her eyes. "That will indeed make it easier… he will be a valuable asset for sure, but we cannot afford to tell him everything. Not yet. There is always the risk of him being captured in the war, and the knowledge of the future is something that we cannot diffuse, especially when Akatsuki is still an unknown. We don't know precisely when Yahiko had died before."

Naruto nodded. "Akatsuki can wait. Konan had already delivered my message by now, and I'm sure Nagato knows something. I will file in a request for an undercover mission in Ame with Sandaime-sama soon. Right now, as for General Hatake… One thing is for sure. His loyalty to Konoha is unquestionable. He will be a good informant in the war too, and if we have close ties with him we will by proxy gain the support of the Hatake clan, and gain more leverage against the Council. It'll undoubtedly be invaluable in the near future, if we plan on removing the old war hawk and Orochimaru."

Sasuke sat, pondering for a moment, before answering. "You're right, I could handle that. I will give him the details during the deployment, and it should be sufficient for him to be able to piece things together."

Naruto nodded. "Then be careful to not let things slip too much."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

The redhead smiled again, a small, sad thing that Sasuke noticed and replied with one of her own rare smiles. "Now tell me about young Kakashi's injuries?"

Suddenly Sasuke shifted uncomfortably, a small twitch that Naruto was puzzled at, and confusion and dread made it on the raven's face before a blank mask was settled again.

"About that… Kakashi-sensei – sorry, Kakashi-_san_ – has suffered severe blood loss from a puncture wound in his stomach and broken ribs that have pierced both his lungs… His left arm was dislocated and his left leg fractured."

Naruto winced in empathetic pain. Even for her, such intensive injuries would take more than one night of sleep to heal, not to mention how they _hurt like a bitch_. "Sasuke…"

The Uchiha nodded grimly. "Ahh... The medics said that he's stable for now. However, one stated that it was incredible for such a young child to survive after this. Apparently he should have died way before help reached him."

"Outside help then?" Naruto frowned. Indeed, even if Kakashi had always been a hard one to kill, he was still and only a child, a young soul in a sea of lost spirits. It was hard to admit but… with his current skills, as a Chuunin nonetheless, he should have died. The Konoha Hospital, with the sudden flood of patients within few hours and their limited staff, hadn't been much prepared at all and had only sent field-medics out toward the end of the invasion.

"Probably." Sasuke clenched her teeth in frustration. "Yet another unknown… We're starting to have too much to handle. First the war, then Namikaze, and Hatake too… And the Council as well. Then there's Ame, that _thing_ that happened with Namikaze, and this _Unknown_… it's frustrating," she finished with the unexpected confession.

Naruto understood. Until now Sasuke had been the brain behind all their operations, yet it's been a month since they've been here and they haven't achieved anything. Sasuke… was probably angry at herself for not doing better. She carried the weight of the past already, and now, the future rested on her decisions as well, like a rock dragging her down into the depths of the ocean.

Perhaps it was time for Naruto to step in.

The redhead smirked. "I have an idea… but first."

Sasuke looked at the redhead questioningly, who replied with a smirk stretching her full, pale lips, wide enough to expose her sharp canines. Sasuke's gaze wandered to Naruto's eyes, and a shiver shook her as she unquestionably saw the darkened blue of her partner's eyes, turning into a deep, sharp shade of midnight cobalt.

Naruto, still staring into dark, obsidian orbs that were widened in surprise, caught the straps of her arm-guards and pulled, letting the porcelain land softly on the bed. She stretched her neck slowly, in a deliberate movement to seduce, and let her lips brush against the soft material of her black ANBU glove as she moved up her forearm. Finally she reached the tip of her fingers, biting into the artificial claws – that are more for decoration than anything else as her own claws are more than capable of tearing one's throat out – and pulled, the glove sliding smoothly off her arm.

The shock of white, slightly tanned skin against the black cloth was mesmerizing; and Sasuke was caught, staring at how strands of red hair like rivers of blood contrasted against the soft looking skin, how the black glove, taken off almost brutally, gave off a startling sensual glaze to the flesh it revealed.

"I'm a bit..."

Naruto reached out to Sasuke, her clawed fingers stroking gently the other's chin. She tilted the raven's head upward and guided her closer still, until they were pressed against each other and their chest plates gave a small clink as they collided. Still staring into Sasuke's eyes, Naruto let her hand glide downwards to a graceful neck; she let her fingers tangle themselves into inky hair, and pulling forward, she brought Sasuke into her embrace, burying her face in the crook where neck met shoulder.

"Sas'ke…" She breathed, and the Uchiha, as if startled out of a dream, shook violently.

"Just a bit… hungry…" And without further ado, Naruto bit down in the supple flesh.

* * *

She slid off the bed with a sigh.

After making sure that Sasuke was still slumbering deeply, Naruto picked up her gloves from the ground and pulled them back on, securing them with white bandages on her arms. She made sure to cover her left shoulder as well, where she knew her ANBU tattoo to reside, all black flames instead of the usual burning red, both carrying the same weight but all too different from each other. Her bare feet touched the wooden floor, exceedingly cold for a summer day but Naruto couldn't care less, too occupied by her own thoughts.

She absentmindedly clicked her forearm protectors back into place, shining a dull, bone white under the setting sun, and a part of her longed for the other uniform carefully sealed away in her wrist, because it would be so much easier to hide behind a false name and identity, and so much heavier of a burden to carry, but Naruto is used to such things and the lightness of the white armor seemed strangely out of place on her body.

Earlier she had received a summon from the Hokage, a minuscule scroll left in her pouch a fraction of second before the Sandaime had left to tend to his duties at the end of her shinobi assessment.

It wasn't much, a simple order to a meeting with full-gear and nothing else, but Naruto had learned to be wary of such things.

Already she was reaching for her mask left on her couch, and deft fingers tied the strings tightly behind her head, her red hair previously pulled back in a long plait thrown over her right shoulder. As usual she was armed to the teeth, fully able to take on anything even if there was no need to do so, but Naruto had learned early on that there was no such things as overly prepared.

With a last glance to her sleeping teammate, she turned back to throw a blanket over the curled body, earning a few grumbles, and silently slipped out of the window.

A small tap and the sizzle of a seal put into place was all she needed to seal off the shinobi-exclusive entrance, and in that same movement she left Naruto behind and Himei was born again.

* * *

-Minato-

After his newly acquired teammate had left with yet another unknown character, Minato slumped into his chair with a defeated sigh.

"Damn, and I thought I had it…"

A chuckle behind him almost made him jump out of his seat.

"What is it, Namikaze? Already unable to handle that new teammate of yours?"

The overly familiar and boisterous voice only aggravated Minato's mood, and with a grumble he turned away from the newcomer, a childish pout firmly in place.

"Get lost. I don't want to deal with you right now."

He was answered with the screech of a chair being dragged on the floor, and too soon for his taste the ANBU seated herself firmly across the table.

"What happened?" Because of course she had to see through him in a second. Minato stubbornly refused to answer her, and she sighed heavily before leaning forward, snitching his last piece of fried pork and munching on it gleefully.

She unceremoniously detached her mask and all but threw it on the table with a loud clang, but everyone else in the cafeteria ignored it, far too used to her antics.

"Come on, Namikaze. I know you enough by now to know when something's not right, and right now something's definitely wrong because I'm certainly not going blind-ttebane." That annoying verbal tick again, and Minato turned his raging eyes on her.

"What's wrong? You know what wrong? Goddamn _everything_! Because I just had to go on that stupid mission and gotten my team almost killed, and I can't even remember who the hell had saved me, and now I'm stuck with a teammate who's just so-so-argh!" By then Minato was nearly screaming and ready to tear his hairs out, loud enough to turn a few heads, his muscles tense and eyes blazing, but it didn't even faze Tsuki who just whistled, impressed at his outburst.

"Wow, Namikaze, didn't know you had it in you. But seriously, what's so wrong with that new ANBU? She looked pretty fine to me, if not a bit uptight-ttebane."

Tsuki, or rather one Uzumaki Kushina, was probably the only one able to talk like that to Namikaze Minato without having said man holding a kunai to her jugular. Because for all the composed attitude the blonde seemed to radiate he was very much like his mentor, a bit impulsive and cocky like Jiraiya but also very patient and gentle.

So Kushina had been very, very surprised to be greeted by the sight of a disappearing, unknown pair of ANBU and a Minato who looked like a deer in headlights upon her return to the Headquarters. She's been stuck in the hospital for a good two weeks now, only released an hour ago, and even if her best friend who also happened to be on Minato's team, Nekomata, had told her a highly lengthened and entertaining 'summary' of the rumored shinobi assessment that happened mere hours ago, Kushina was still curious about the new duo.

Only a passing glance to the new ANBU had almost left her shivering, the air around them compressed into a nauseating ball of dangerousness and suffocating killing intent, but at the same time it had been so faint and the encounter so brief she almost wondered if she hadn't dreamt it up.

But another glance towards the Namikaze and all her worries had been erased, replaced by curiosity and delighted contemplation, because he'd always been a mystery and was uncharacteristically frowning, lines sketched deep into his skin as if pondering over some inexplicable matters.

"Himei, wasn't it? I heard she handled you your ass over a silver platter earlier. The ground shook all the way to the waiting room in the hospital. Are you perhaps upset it for finally being beaten into the ground by a girl?" The redhead asked again, and didn't even wince at her own lack of tact.

Minato didn't bother to turn his gaze away from her, and she could see that the blue of his eyes were clearer – still a bit unfocused as if far away, but he was definitely paying attention now, and had calmed down considerably during her internal monologue.

"No, no, that's not… No, we weren't even close to evenly matched. It was… brutal. Quick. And I hadn't had so much fun in a while." A wry smile made its way on Minato's features. "It was a plain old beating. With me on the losing side," he admitted, and Kushina watched him with widened eyes because, never, ever, had the man before her conceded to defeat without shouting for a rematch. Actually, she had never heard him losing even once, not even to Jiraiya whom he had beaten upon his Seal Mastery, so it wasn't hard to understand that she listened to the rest with rapt attention.

"Himei is… hard to follow. Not in the skill department, because that much was already clear after our spar. She's… puzzling, if I had to say. Incredibly dangerous. During our match she had been fierce, bloodthirsty. She had called me _nestling_. Could you believe that?" Minato chuckled. "It was infuriating. She led me on, never once overwhelming me but just out of reach enough to make me go mad. She succeeded rather well, too." Yet another reluctant admission, and Kushina was awed, already admiring whoever Himei was to be able to drive one of the calmest shinobi, like, ever, up a wall and make him jump down without lifting a finger.

"It was unfair. A triple jutsu combination and switching around with Kage bunshins, and I was done for. Couldn't have even seen it coming. She was toying with me, I'm sure of it."

Kushina didn't know what to say, so she stayed silent for once and let Minato continue.

"But the next minute she had me on the ground and her chakra in my system, and healing whatever injuries she had rained on me. All the way laughing and smiling and not a hint of sarcasm in her tone, and it's…"

"Unsettling." Kushina finished for him, and Minato nodded. "Yeah. Dangerous, like I said. But somehow I can't leave it alone. That other ANBU, Getsumei. Getsumei and Himei, they seem to have known each other for quite some time. But, for some reason they just seem so out of place."

"And you just had to be the good Samaritan as always, didn't you?" Minato ducked his head and scratched his cheek, flushing in embarrassment.

"I just… They looked so _lonely_, I had to do something. It's terrible to be like that when they couldn't be much older than we are."

Kushina smirked at that, playful with an undertone of teasing wickedness. "Seriously, Namikaze, if I hadn't known you for all those years I would have said that you're in _love_." She watched, satisfied, as the blonde ANBU spluttered, eyes wide and red coloring his cheeks all the way to his ears. It was gleefully pleasant to wrench such reactions from him, rare as they are.

Suddenly Minato tensed, a hand slapping over his left shoulder, and Kushina's fun ended right there. She sighed and leaned back into her chair as she stole another piece of meat from the other ANBU's plate. It seemed like he won't be eating the rest anyway.

"A summon? Then you better go. Seems urgent." She said after swallowing, and her answer was a stressed nod before wind picked up, chakra flaring and he disappeared.

"Sake night better be good," Kushina grumbled, now alone at the desk, "Or someone's going to pay for stealing my fun."

* * *

-Himei-

The trip to the Hokage tower had taken no more than five minutes.

Himei could have Shunshin-ed directly to the office, ran there in a span of thirty seconds, but she had opted for the slow, meaningless travel. To the untrained eye she was a passing blur, gone with the wind, but to many she was only a shinobi with a goal set in her mind, and both were right yet wrong because for Himei it wasn't anything more than a leisurely pace.

A soft wind blew past her, sweeping up her braid and loosening a few locks of crimson hair, and she let the air slide around her, swooping up leaves and dirt and the last bit of sunshine. It danced, adding a spring to her steps, and if she wanted she could have made it tangle with her feet and sweep her off the rooftops but she resisted the urge.

It was a rare chance for her, to really look at Konoha for the first time since her return to the past, and it was both heartwarming and a wrenching kind of pain that tore at her chest. The voices reaching her from the streets was something she was still accustomed to despite the years or fighting and running away, and it was slightly strange but also achingly familiar to spot children running between their parents' legs and vendors yelling the names of their merchandise. Black, red and brown tiles clacked under her feet as she ran past the market, crossing path with the occasional shinobi or patrolling ANBU, laughter ringing in her ears and cries in her chest.

A month into the past already, and Himei thought with a nostalgic smile that it hadn't done much for her state of mind.

Even if there was no one now threatening to break into her mind and to tear her apart from the inside, she was still the same broken person, the same lost soul with almost no one left at her side. Knowing they still had a second chance did make it better, but that was without counting all the familiar faces that were now exceedingly young and those who don't exist at all, not yet, perhaps never. Often Himei would find herself walking toward a place and find in its stead empty grounds and old buildings, or look at a street and remember another one too similar but older and much livelier.

Once she had gazed into the faces of a pair of Chuunin and been reminded of a small boy in her first graduating class, who had been third of their year and at the top of the casualty list after Madara's first raid.

Another time she had stumbled upon a small bakery with a scent she could never forget, not when the young woman at the door and the loaf of bread in her hands were the splitting image of the old lady who used to feed her when she had lived on the streets.

And every time she thought of the past – or a future that no longer exists – she would reminisce about when she had been Uzumaki Naruto, Genin and Hokage candidate, still very much male and oblivious to the affection of a Hinata who had only recently grown out of her timidity – and Himei would think of Hinata smiling, of Hinata dancing, of Hinata and Neji and their Juken, of Hinata and her strength and Hinata and rain and red laced with the scent of fading violets, of red and rain and tears and blood so much _blood_-

Himei stopped, a millisecond shy of stepping right through a roof.

It probably wasn't healthy to be so obsessed, the redhead mused, but at the same time she wouldn't ever want this cold rage to leave.

Or she wouldn't have anything to run on.

There wouldn't be anything left to reign in the hate, the emptiness, or the kunai she held in her sleep more for herself than for defense.

But there was no more time to think as her feet grazed a newly painted wall and her chakra lashed out, sticking to the vertical surface as she ran up and spotted the time-worn windowsill. It wasn't long before her sandals brushed the weathered wood, and with a flare of chakra deactivated the seals inscribed into the walls.

She slid into the room fluidly, slightly careless with the Hokage already aware of her presence, and flipped over a pile of paperwork before landing right before the Sandaime's desk. The Chuunin beside her almost jumped out of his skin, and Himei noted with a small grin that the wide-eyed man was the same one she had terrorized over a week ago.

Sarutobi barely glanced up from his scroll. "Himei."

"Reporting, Hokage-sama," she replied with a bow, crouching down and a knee on the floor.

The older man nodded and waved his hand at his assistant, dismissing him with a gentle smile in place. The Chuunin hurried out of the room and closed the door with a loud clang, and Himei smiled under her mask at the thoughtless show of panic.

The Hokage shook his head, amused, and brought his pipe to his lips. "The poor boy, he's been terrified of you since last time."

"Wouldn't do much harm to him anyway, it's always good to have a healthy dose of fear for those stronger than you. He would live longer that way," the redhead explained, bitterness in her tone but also very much entertained.

Sarutobi took a long drag of his pipe and exhaled, repeating the motion several times before placing it back on its holder. At the same time four luminescent walls rose from the ground and met at the ceiling in a rounded dome, encasing the room in a silencing barrier.

Himei didn't even tense at the sudden movement, having already sensed the chakra before the activation of the seals.

"Now, please understand that under no circumstances shall I inquire about the future. However," the Hokage began, "I am curious as to how you will handle matters from now on. I need a full report if I am to offer my support."

A gleam in his eyes told Himei what she needed to know. For his old age Sarutobi Hiruzen was no fool, never one to rush blindly into things as she had done once, and he wasn't about to begin now. He was careful and calculating, wise despite what his smiles may tell, and Himei wasn't stupid enough to fall under his spell.

"As you wish, Hokage-sama." She'll play along for now, because she needed the help and the Hokage had slim chances of double crossing her.

"Our plans start with the Third Shinobi War. It is quite unfortunate that the Council has separated Getsumei from me, but it wouldn't hinder us. On the contrary, it would be much easier for us to work separately. I cannot tell you much right now, but be aware that the disasters of the future take their roots both inside and outside Konoha."

The Hokage rose from his seat and clasped his hands behind his back, taking a few steps behind his table. He did not take his eyes off Himei, all seriousness and an undertone of pressuring that comes with experience.

"You mean to tell me that we have rats in our den?"

Himei bit her lower lip, feeling the heavy gaze on her but refusing to submit. "Perhaps not… now, but soon. I'd rather get rid of them in the next year before it could develop into anything."

She had the presentiment this questioning meant more than the Hokage let on, but for her life she couldn't begin to guess what it was.

"I see," Sarutobi agreed, "then I give you full permission to… clean them. Smoke them out. Leave no signs behind."

"Understood." Himei relaxed a little as the Sandaime's eyes wandered to the opened windows, watching the busy streets below as the sun descended behind the horizon.

"I assume Getsumei will be working on outside matters?" He asked, and Himei nodded, unsure as to where this conversation was leading.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. We discussed this earlier and decided to bring General Hatake into our… plans. With your permission of course." She felt sweat at her brow, and frowned. The ambiance was tense, unlike a simple reporting but not quite an interrogation, and it made her uneasy.

The Sandaime paced around the room, deep in thought, gaze flickering back to her once in a while. The silence seemed to stretch on for minutes before Sarutobi finally answered. "Permission granted."

Himei released a breath she didn't know she was holding, the tension bleeding out like a river.

"I thank you for your kindness, Hokage-sama." The mood between them suddenly shifted, no longer strained, as if the Hokage got what he wanted and was satisfied enough to let her off easy.

"No need," Sarutobi said as he waved his hand, "It is my duty to help a fellow comrade." He sat back down into his chair and urged Himei to stand up. "Besides, all that was for my own convenience. I've already given you full authority as my second in command."

Himei gasped, surprised at the choice of words. "Hokage-sama!"

The older man laughed and pulled back his sleeve, revealing an intricate seal on his left wrist. It was brown with the shades of the Earth and the pale blue of water, and Himei marveled at the sight.

"This, I had received it from Tobirama-sensei upon my nomination as Third Hokage. You understand, don't you? As someone who bears the same burden, I mean." Himei gaped at the blatant admission, hand reaching for her own wrist where she knew a similar seal to reside. But hers was of blood red and green curling vines, and a touch of wind engraved in silver.

"I might not have officially named you the Fourth, but it doesn't hold any less meaning." Because while the seal was usually applied to an ANBU commander it was also the unnamed requirement to being Hokage candidate, and Himei thought she may faint as her feet refused to obey her, holding on the nearest chair to not fall on the floor.

"Bu-but…"

The Sandaime only laughed at her expense. "Use that power well, Himei. Don't make me regret my decision."

The redhead only stared, dumbfounded, and heard distantly a booming laughter in her mind.

'_**The old geezer got you good, kit.'**_

'_Shu-shut up, Kurama! I'm trying to think.'_

The Kyubi only chuckled, and Himei grumbled under her breath.

A few deep breaths later and she was back on her feet, still wobbling a little, and her mind in pandemonium as she tried to make sense of what just happened. The Hokage had changed her seal once she'd revealed her identity, but at that time she had thought it was only to make sure of her loyalty and to keep track of her movements, because it is always safer to keep your enemies closer, and she never thought it was, it was…

_This_, and just as she was giddy she was pained, because the last time she had accepted such responsibility it had been among corpses and battles with no time to adjust. But this time she had a second change to right the wrongs, taken in the process what was rightfully Namikaze Minato's, and Himei didn't know what to think.

A part of her wanted to refuse, to keep things as close as they had been in her reality, but… Himei couldn't, and deeply she knew that this job was hers.

"Of course, Hokage-sama."

She will do it right.

Suddenly a chakra flared seconds away, and Himei didn't even have the time to protest before the blue barrier was taken down and a figure appeared at the center of the room, ANBU mask in place.

"C-captain?"

Hummingbird seemed just as startled as she was, and unbeknown to each other they both turned raging stares to the Hokage. The small smile on Sarutobi's face indicated he was as unrepentant as ever.

"Ahh, Hachidori. Right on time."

Himei seethed under her mask, baring her fangs and hissing in outrage.

'_He planned for this?'_

"Hokage-sama," Hummingbird acknowledged, "And… Himei-san."

'_**The brat seems eager to see you.'**_

'_Eager? Are you blind? He paused! He paused before my name! He totally hates me now!'_

'_**Say what you will. You're too young to understand half the things I see.'**_

Himei twitched angrily. _'What's that even supposed to mean!'_

However, her inner discussion was interrupted by the Hokage, who handed a scroll to both of them.

"I have a mission for you."

Himei blinked, surprised. "Already? But I thought we were on leave until Friday."

"That was the original plans, but one of the patrol teams scheduled for tonight was delayed on their mission and can't make it back in time. I trust that you already know the drill?"

Hachidori nodded, "Yes, Hokage-sama." He glanced at Himei, and for a second the redhead thought she saw something flicker in Minato's eyes, but soon he turned back and it disappeared. He untied the chakra strings and opened the scroll with ease, scanned over the mission details before passing the paper to Himei.

She took the scroll, careful to keep her eyes down and not meeting the other's inquisitive stare, ignoring the brush of their fingers and how Hachidori's grip lingered longer than needed.

It was an easy mission, nothing more than a few hours of night patrol inside the village in the merchant district, and hopefully Hummingbird wouldn't have the time to question her too much.

But of course, when she gave back the scroll, the glint in his eyes crushed that hope mercilessly. An air of awkwardness hung between them and she turned back to the Hokage, trying to ignore than man beside her.

"Is that all, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes, you may leave."

She was gone within the blink of an eye, not leaving enough time for Hachidori to even follow her trail, and the blonde slumped in defeat before leaving in a Shunshin. Sarutobi watched their interaction with a fond smile on his face before turning back to the piles of paperwork, ever-present on his desk.

* * *

-Getsumei-

When Sasuke woke up, it was to a dark room and the soft breeze flowing in from the window, yells in her mind and a scream at her throat.

She blinked, still sluggish, and stretched out her arms above her head, trying to get rid of the kinks in her muscles. The raven winced at the sharp thug on her shoulder, and kicked off the blanket. A glance around the room and she was up, bare feet against the cold floor yet not shivering, and ventured into the bathroom.

She reached the sink and twisted open the faucet, letting the cool water wet her fingers. The frigid liquid was a shock against her warm skin, but she kept her hands there, feeling her mind clearing up. After she deemed herself awake enough, she splashed the water on her face, making quick work of the sweat clinging to her skin. Raising her head to look at the mirror, her reflection stared back at her, ominous in the dark, sleepless rings under her eyes and hair disheveled, the skin on her neck pink and slightly raw where her high collar was rolled down.

Sasuke pressed down on that spot with a finger, feeling the cold calm a bit the ache. She frowned.

It was exceedingly warm.

She exited from the bathroom, thoughts clear and limbs finally responding correctly, and she spotted her ANBU mask on the nightstand beside the bed. The raven popped down on the couch, leaning back until her back was pressed against the soft cushions, an arm over her eyes and lips pressed into a thin line.

It wasn't rare for her to wake up from a nightmare, and today wasn't any different.

However it's been a long, long time since there hasn't been a blonde by her side, comforting her despite how much unneeded it was, and Sasuke isn't used to this anymore, waking up in cold sweat and pretending that everything is fine, grasping for her dreams without a hand to steady her.

It's… unsettling, even as Sasuke would deny it with all her might, because once she'd been used to cold nights and lonely hopes, but now there's Naruto and she may not be dependent but is still very much relying on the other.

Now that her Hokage isn't here, there's nothing stopping her from thinking back, from sinking once again into her mind, into the deep abysses and cracks in the scorched ground of her mindscape. They pull her down, with all the weight of twelve years of fighting and death and hatred, and suddenly the graves are crying out, calling her back, and Sasuke can't stop falling.

She now faced the double doors of her mindscape, badly scratched and barely hanging on its hinges, and she pushes forward, already knowing what awaits her at the other side. Inside is a borderless wasteland, uprooted trees and the stench of blood permeating the air, the sky a starless black and the moon glowing red.

Shadows seemed to linger, their bodiless forms dragging on the earth, mutilated faces frozen in expressions of sorrow and anger. They grabbed her, tore at her clothing, but Sasuke walked right past them, stubbornly keeping her gaze away. It wasn't long before the first grave greeted her, and then the muttering grew eightfold, before a low buzzing and now all but screeching in her ears. It would be impossible to ignore for one unused to such sceneries, but Sasuke had already lived far more to let it bother her, and not even once did she stop. She knew she would only find on the weathered stones blurred memories and names of people she had once called comrades, bordering on friends because of her efforts to keep them away, and it didn't cut as deep as they did to Naruto because Sasuke had distanced herself long before she even came to know them.

And abruptly she pauses, because hanging from a low branch is a black coat and pieces of white clouds, and it was a grumbling from the Earth, an unknown name but Sasuke knew, because only this tree had been marked with a swirling three-branched shuriken and the nest of an unseen crow.

Because this is Itachi, a man she loved for all she has hated him, and it's shredding her heart all over again even after all those years.

Sasuke blinks, taking in the hand on her ankle and the pull at her shirt, the disfigured corpses at her feet and their sharp teeth sinking into her flesh – just like Naruto, but so, so different – and she chuckles dryly, mockingly, before it blooms into a full laughter and resonates on unseen surfaces.

The moon winks at the raven, and it's no longer shining red but the red stars of Sasuke's Mangekyo, and she laughs, clutching at her stomach even as the undead of her mind pull her to the ground, devouring and tearing her apart and Sasuke couldn't care less. The moon swirls, the same pattern as her eyes; a tug and she comes apart, savagely taken and consumed, and she felt her senses fading even as fingers dug into her opened chest and her eyes and killing her in the most gruesome ways.

It took all but a second for her to reform again outside the double gates, and another for her to feel the sweat on her brow and the hands pulling at her hair and the screams dying from her throat.

It couldn't possibly be sane, Sasuke mused. It was dementia in its purest form and she knew, oh she knew, but she can't stop. Venturing into her mind late at night and being destroyed, devoured, pulled apart into so, so many pieces by the images of those she had once betrayed, and it hurt and scratched at her but it was small comfort to battle against her guilt.

Sasuke blinks, and it's back all over again, the hands at her throat and the fingers in her eyes and the hands tugging at her insides, squeezing her heart until it stopped and the teeth sinking into her limbs – and she wanted to scream again, to cry out and to yell from the exquisite pain and the meaninglessness of it all and Sasuke is falling, falling and _falling_ and she's laughing and it's making an insane kind of sense.

Hands clawed at her face, and she doesn't know if they're a remnant of her visit or her own and she tastes blood on her tongue, tangy and coppery but deliciously sweet. Something yells in her ears and she's too dazed to understand, she's shaking and breaking and there's a hand around her and under and it took a second for her to be pressed against something soft and buried into a bundle of warm fur and sunlight.

It's closer this time, a yell that sounded angry and something Sasuke couldn't understand, and it's right beside her ear but she couldn't think because she's strangely warm. Someone is holding her, she realizes with a shiver, and she pushed and pushed but the grip wasn't loosening in the least.

"Sasuke!"

Again, and she blinks, as if startled.

"Sasuke! Calm down!"

She's met with brilliant red a shade darker than blood, but she frowns, because it smells of burnt leaves and summer breeze with the undertone of metal but it was also warm fur, and it was incredibly familiar if not of the wrong coloring.

A hand is stroking her back, small than she remembered it to be, with all the right callouses but softer, and it kneads her muscles in all the right ways until she sags into the waiting arms.

Something is muttered by her ear again, sounding like a warning or a promise but Sasuke has grown wary of such things, and long fingers tug at the collar of her shirt. She absentmindedly noted the soft brush of warm skin against her sweaty neck, nowhere close to strangling her, and she closed her eyes.

Only to open them again in pained surprise as sharp canines sank into her flesh, a gasp escaping her lips and her hands tangled into hair the tone of raging flames. And she was too dignified to yell but still tugged and tore at the other's clothing, trying to get away, but she was much too dizzy to cause much harm. Still Sasuke's nails dug into the other's clothed arms, hard enough to pierce skin and draw blood, but the other made no movement to back down. She felt the surge of blood into her cheeks, up her neck and down her arms, eyes blurry and a coldness on her face drying, and Sasuke noticed that she had been crying.

She looked down to the mess of red strands in her hands, a plait half undone and loose hairs between her fingers, and she almost jumps at the assault of memories.

Sasuke opened her mouth to talk, but only came out a croaky sound, and she frowned, clearing her throat before trying again. "Na-naruto." It was still inaudible at best but the jerk of the fangs in her shoulder indicated the redhead had heard.

"Naruto, w-what…?"

A shiver ran down Sasuke's spine as Naruto pulled out her canines, lips painted red with blood, and she stared into the Uchiha's eyes for a second before embracing the raven into a tight hug.

"Shhh… Sasuke, it's okay. It's okay, I'm here." It sounded somewhat cheesy and stupid but Sasuke could barely talk, only understanding the muttered words halfway, but what caught her attention was the tone a pitch too low and the overwhelming grief flowing from Naruto's entire being.

Somehow she could comprehend if only a little, even as it left her puzzled as to why the other would feel pain over Sasuke's own mess, but it was _Naruto_ and perhaps that alone was enough of an explanation.

"I'm here, Sasuke, I'm here, so it's okay."

And maybe it wasn't what the redhead had meant, but Sasuke leans in and hugs back anyway as new tears rolled down her cheeks.

"It's okay."

* * *

**A/N: Oh. My. God. This is finally done :D**

**It took me a long time to start, but really after I did I spent three afternoons on it and it's out!**


End file.
